Death is a vacation
by Tarkus the Jaguar
Summary: Taylor Hebert died in the locker. And in the ambulance on the way to hospital. A third time to an incompetent doctor. Then, a week later, she was hit by a car.
1. Can't take me down

Taylor Hebert died in the locker. She also died in the back of the ambulance on her way to hospital. Once at hospital, she died due to an incompetent doctor. Then, a week later she died when an irresponsible driver ran her over and left her, during one of her runs.

It was only after she died when a drugged up mugger had shot her through the chest, having confused her purse for a can of pepper spray or something, that she began to suspect something weird was happening.

After getting run over _again_ (at least this time they'd called out an apology as they drove away – fucking psychos), getting caught in a crossfire between the E88 and the ABB, and tripping and braining herself against the pavement that she suspected she was a Parahuman.

She'd done a few brief tests to see if she was a Brute, but quickly dismissed it, because even though what should've been agonizing pain was merely painful. Despite this, she still bled like normal, had no enhanced strength, and was hurt, if anything, unnaturally fast. So she set that idea behind, disappointed.

After being mauled by a particularly vicious cat, suffering an allergic reaction to bee stings (who knew), and tripping off the roof of Winslow and landing neck first, she changed her mind. After all, she remembered dying in each of the events, but assumed she'd hallucinated because afterwards she had been fine, and there had been no blood or gore from the more… violent demises.

So deciding to put her power to the test, having lost all will to live after her tormentors went unpunished, the case dismissed, she'd decided to jump off a tall building, ironically getting hit by a car on the way there. Having felt herself splatter, feeling fine, and leaving no blood behind, Taylor decided to be a hero.

She couldn't join New Wave, because even if she couldn't die, her dad certainly could. She might join the Protectorate in a few years, but with the Wards she'd likely be treated as a baseline human: after all, who would let a kid get brutally murdered over and over again, even if it was willing? There were probably all kinds of laws prohibiting that.

One month later, having literally worked herself to death in her exercise routine, she started making a costume. Harder than it looked, it took her another week. But now, three months, ten days after her first death, she'd snuck out to go Hero-ing for the first time.

So at slightly past midnight, she'd been strolling confidently (but carefully) into ABB territory, looking for a drug deal or something else minor, to help her get a hang of what she'd be doing. Taylor figured she'd build up momentum slowly, and get a hand on her limits in a practical situation. Then, instead, she'd spotted a large congregation of ABB, led by none other than Lung himself.

She almost immediately began to slightly less confidently but far more carefully stroll the other way, when she'd heard the shirtless man speak.

"…the children, just shoot. Doesn't matter your aim, just shoot. You see one lying on the ground? Shoot the little bitch twice more to be sure. We give them no chances to be clever or lucky, understand?"

Aaand she turned right back around, cussing. Lung was so far out of her league combat wise she might as well be an ant trying to win long jump against a gold medal Olympian, but hopefully she could stall him. She didn't feel much pain anymore, but she still knew this was gonna suck.

Walking up and trying to control her frantic breathing, Taylor knew something was wrong with her life, considering she was _willingly_ facing _LUNG_. As in, _I just casually your entire team,_ Lung. But even if all she could do was painfully die over and over, she would be able to save these kids.

The gang had begun moving away, but the moment Taylor was within about twenty meters, Lung's head snapped back towards her. Great, he had enhanced senses. His gang quickly stopped with him, and took in the magnificence that was her costume.

Which was to say one of her dad's old suits, and expertly crafted second hand Venetian mask, her hair hanging free behind her, and a pair of torn jeans. Some of the gang members scoffed their derision. Taylor steeled herself, and adapted a casual pose, one side closer to them than the other and her hands in her pockets.

"'Sup?" Taylor greeted, pulling a slightly deeper voice than she normally would.

The gang stood there for a moment, until Lung nodded to himself.

"Shoot him," Lung declared calmly. Immediately, Taylor was sprayed with bullets, and a particularly loud retort showed one of the gangers had something much larger than a pistol. Taylor let out an undignified screech, flinching back and covering her face with her arms, as if that would help in any way.

"Fuck! That's rude, you assholes!" Taylor yelled as she felt the bullets twitch through her, a sharp pain that quickly passed each time. Eventually the gangers came to the realisation that their guns weren't working, lowering them and backing up a few steps as Lung began walking towards her. As she watched, he grew a few inches and coated himself in fire. Joy.

Instead of talking, Lung moved quickly enough that she didn't even see it. He grabbed her by the head and tore it clean off, kicking her body away from him. Taylor let out a scream from her newly reformed head as she spun around and around down the road.

"Diiiiiicccckkkk!"

As soon as she could steady herself, she got back to her feet.

"Is that how you say hello? Damn, man, you're even worse socially than I am."

While Taylor knew she wasn't very good at trash talking, it was certainly fun to be able to insult one of the most powerful villains ever seen to his face, and know there was nothing he could do to stop her. Lung let out a growl of annoyance and flung a massive ball of fire at her. Needless to say, it hurt. A lot. She held in her scream, but still hissed. God was she grateful the pain she felt was reduced, if this was only a fraction of its heat.

"I'll kill you!" Lung yelled angrily, his transformation progressing before seeming to stop at about nine feet tall and a slight tail. He crossed the distance between them in a single leap, and Taylor threw herself out of the way at the last second.

"Really? Damn, I thought we were playing tag," Taylor sniped back at him. Lung spun to her, and reached out to grab her, but Taylor ducked under his hand and punched him in the… sensitive parts, where his scales didn't quite cover.

Lung let out a combination of a yelp and a yell, reaching forward and tearing both her arms off before she could retreat. She gasped in pain. Damn, seriously, how was he this fast? Also, having no arms felt really, really weird, because she could still partly feel them. She knew she'd be stuck like this until she next died, so she decided to antagonise Lung further.

Or at least she was planning to, before only had a second to widen her eyes before Lung's spinning kick decapitated her again. Her body crumpled to the ground, but she quickly stood back up.

"STAY DEAD, YOU FUCKER!" Lung yelled, punching through her chest before she could get far, flinging her into a nearby building. He then leapt to her, grabbed her by the head and slammed her three times into the wall, and finished by planting her head first a meter into the ground.

Well, that was something she hadn't considered, but her body just popped out of the concrete like a daisy from the ground, and Taylor spread her arms in a mock hug. Lung growled furiously and bit down on her head, pinning her in place and coating her in fire, and quickly reducing her body to an ashy corpse.

"OWWWWW FUCK FUCK FUCK YOU'RE AN ASSHOLE!" Taylor screeched, feeling a stab of relief as the pain finally stopped, and ducked underneath Lung's retaliatory backhand. Before Lung could try again, the nearby gang members were coated in darkness and a huge black shape slammed Lung into the ground.

It quickly began tearing into Lung, who began growing again even as he was shredded, so Taylor stepped forward and began punching him in the face over and over again. She felt one of her fingers break against the metal, with barely any pain, but kept at it as she saw Lung's struggles begin to cease.

At her size, by rights she shouldn't be able to do anything to someone like Lung. But she could throw around her own body weight, and had punched Lung in the eyes. With one final groan of pain, Lung fell unconscious, and began gradually shrinking.

She felt herself be clipped by a few bullets, and spun to face the cloud of darkness that had covered the gang members. As it dropped, it revealed a handful of unconscious members of the ABB, and none of the others of the dozens who'd been there. Either they'd been eaten by the darkness, or they'd fled. Probably the latter.

A loud impact rang out, and two more inhuman monsters slammed into the ground next to her.

"Shit, are you okay?" A masculine voice called out from on top of one of the monsters, tone expressing concern. "I saw a few bullets catch you before I could get the last guy."

At a quick glance, Taylor determined there were four riders. One in what seemed to be motorcycle leathers, with a skull painted on his motorcycle helmet, a girl in a lavender skin-tight suit and a plain domino mask, someone who looked like a Ren-faire reject, and a girl in a cheap plastic dog mask.

"She's fine," The blonde girl in purple said, a mischievous tone in her voice. "Some kind of Brute? No, that's no quite right… But anyway, thanks. You saved us a lot of trouble by taking down Lung. Really did us a solid. We heard Lung had been coming for us, and were understandably freaked, so decided just to wing it and fight him. Met some of his flunkies with Oni Lee on the way, but Lee bolted when his Boss wasn't there, and I suppose we have you to thank for that."

The man in black turned towards her. "Introductions. That's Tattletale. I'm Grue. The girl with the dogs is Bitch, or Hellhound if you want to be P.G, and last, and most certainly least, Regent."

"Fuck you Grue," Regent said with a chuckle, showing he wasn't really offended. Much to her surprise, he was wearing a mask similar to hers. "Nice style with the mask, by the way," He added, clearly showing he thought so too. There was an awkward silence. Damn, it was really telling about her that she was comfortable dying repeatedly and fighting Lung, but froze up in front of strangers.

"… Hey, Tattletale, you sure she's okay?" Grue asked.

"Yeah, she's not hurt, just shy," Tattletale replied with a vulpine grin. She seemed about to continue, but then tilted her head to one side. "Heads up, we've gotta scram. Company's coming."

"Want a ride?" Grue offered. I took one look at the… things and shook my head. Fighting monsters was one thing, but that was taking it to a whole new level. Grue shrugged.

"Hey, whats your name?" Tattletale asked.

"I… haven't picked one yet."

"Well, our thanks once again, but you should probably scram. A Protectorate cape's on the way, and they're not gonna let a bad guy go just because they were duking out with another bad guy. See you around." With that, she gestured to the other girl, who whistled, causing the three dogs to begin leaping off before I could correct them and say I was a Hero.

…Well, damn. They were Teenagers, the kids Lung had been after. I'd died half a dozen times to save a group of villains, who had them mistaken me for one, too. What a fantastic start to cape hood.

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 **So, Hi! Thanks for reading and please let me know what you think, I know I'm not that great of a writer, so if you see any flaws or typos please let me know so I can fix them. Any criticism, even non-constructive, is welcome.**

 **~T**


	2. Dragoon (Here's the Cavalry)

**So… uh, wow. That was a very positive reaction, and I hope I can live up to your expectations. I'll respond to reviews beneath the chapter.**

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Armsmaster, Taylor decided, was a bit of a dick. The first thing he'd done after showing up, in an admittedly badass skid on his motorcycle, was ignore her to contain Lung, jabbing him with some kind of tranquilliser. Then he pulled out a spare Halberd, which transformed into a steel cage, pinning Lung to the sidewalk. She could sort of understand that. The making sure Lung didn't back up, that is, not the Halberd-cage thing. Fucking Tinkers. The next thing he did was turn to her, adopt a loose fighting stance, and ask "You gonna fight me?"

Taylor had been so caught off guard she nearly sputtered. As if a villain would just stand there in plain sight, waiting for him to finish. Also, Armsmaster mistaking her for a villain… really stung. It was like John Cleese telling you your jokes sucked. Or Batman showing up and saying you looked Dorky. And it was really wounding for her already deflated ego. Did she really look that villainous?

"I'm a good guy," Taylor replied. Armsmaster relaxed his stance a bit, but still seemed wary and ready to fight, but after a second adopted a far more casual pose.

"You're telling the truth," Armsmaster said confidently. Did he have a lie detector? "Need a hospital?"

She was surprised for a moment, before she realised how logical the question was. "Oh, uh, no. I regenerate."

Armsmaster nodded. "I hope you didn't get hurt too badly. Still, always a pleasure to see a new face. First night out?"

"Yeah. I… uh, don't even have a name yet," Taylor admitted, embarrassed. Now that she'd been in a fight, she realised she probably should've spent more time preparing. She hadn't even brought anything to tie people up with! If Armsmaster hadn't shown up, anyone she beat could've just walked away.

Armsmaster chuckled. It seemed genuine, warm, and normal. Taylor felt some of the tension ease out of her. "Want a hand choosing one? I need something to call you on my report, even if it's only temporary."

Taylor practically fainted. Armsmaster, one of her childhood heroes, wanted to help her. "S-sure, I mean, if it's no bother." And she was stuttering again. Great way to impress people.

"I assume you're a brute of some kind?"

"Sort of. When I reach a certain threshold of damage, my body resets. And I feel less pain."

Armsmaster cocked his head to the side. "Useful. I take it the same goes for things in your possession?" He asked, gesturing to her intact clothes. Taylor swallowed my embarrassment and nodded, making a mental promise to test my power more as soon as she got back. She'd just kind of… taken that for granted, and hadn't really thought about it. Armsmaster seemed to notice her embarrassment.

"That's why we have the Wards program, to help you discover the limits to your powers." There was no pressure, nor any judgement. He was just making a statement. I nodded, but not really out of agreement, just to show I was listening. Luckily, Armsmaster didn't push the issue.

"So, the first thing people would think of for that kind of power set would be 'Phoenix', but that's been taken… six times. I'd suggest Khepri, or Renewal, for now."

Damn, those were both really good names. He was either really creative or had some kind of program in his helmet to help him. "I… think Renewal?"

Armsmaster nodded, a smiled lightly. "Before you leave, could you give me a recount, in your own words, of what happened? Nothing formal, I'd just like a better idea of what happened."

"Okay, well… I was just walking around, looking for something small to stop, you know? Get the hang of how things work, figure out what I need to work on, that kind of stuff. But I stumbled across Lung and a huge group of ABB, and Lung said something about killing kids so I figured, he can't really put me down, I can just distract him for a while."

Armsmaster frowned a little. "That doesn't sound like his usual style, so he was probably referring to another gang."

Taylor nodded sadly.

"But still, what you did was still noble. You put yourself at risk to save others, and managed to apprehend a dangerous criminal. It was a bit reckless, because Lung could've gone on a rampage, but your heart was in the right place." I winced. Crap, I hadn't even thought of that.

"He seemed to stop growing pretty quickly, but I see your point. Sorry."

"Your powers probably don't mesh well with his, which is good to know for the future. And don't let it weigh too heavily on you. You did a good thing, it's just important to keep an eye out for what you did wrong, because it might not go so well next time. Anyway, please continue."

"Right, so he had his gangers shoot me, but when that didn't work he started beating on me and most of them ran away. He lit me on fire and tossed me around a couple of times, even kicked off my head at one point," Armsmaster looked like he wanted to interrupt, but gestured his hand for me to keep talking.

"Then after ramming me into the ground, he was tackled by these huge… monster… things, and the area was covered in darkness," This time, Armsmaster did cut me off.

"The Undersiders? Was there a man in motorcycle gear with a skull mask who made the darkness?"

"Yeah, he said his name was Grue and..."

"You spoke to them?" Armsmaster asked.

"They mistook me for a villain, and said I'd helped them because Lung was after them, before one of them said a Protectorate cape was coming and they bailed."

Armsmaster grimaced. "They have a thinker, then. I'd suspected, given how easily they've evaded us, but it's good to confirm. We have so little information on them, anything new is helpful. Grue and Hellhound we have at least a basic grasp on, but Regent and Tattletale are unknowns."

"So yeah, their beast things jumped on Lung, and I joined in, hitting him until he started shrinking. He seemed pretty caught off guard by the beast things."

Armsmaster had stiffened slightly. "Are you sure you don't have enhanced strength? His scales are known to shrug off gunfire even at their weakest."

"I… don't think so? I tried lifting and throwing around stuff, but I could do much."

Armsmaster scratched his bear lightly. "Maybe it's combat only, or has something to do with your… Renewal," He said, cracking a light grin, and Taylor chuckled, feeling a lot more at ease. He really was a Hero, and even though she was star struck, hearing him make such a lame pun made him feel more personable.

"I'll be sure to test it out. But yeah, after that, the Undersiders introduced themselves, then you showed up."

"Normally I'd suggest you have tried to take them in, but you seem fairly melee oriented, and don't have a mover rating?" She nodded confirmation. "But it's your first night, and it was a good call to not get too caught up in fighting and make enemies. Plus, even the Protectorate has trouble taking them down. They seem to always perfectly know when to run and when to fight. Now just one final thing before we go." At this, Armsmaster's voice took a more serious edge, and she gave him her full attention.

"Who gets credit for Lung?" Immediately, Taylor opened her mouth, but he cut her off with a wave of his hand. "Like I said, you did a great job. A major criminal is in custody thanks to you. But the ABB would almost certainly want revenge, and as an unaffiliated cape, they probably wouldn't hold back against you. I don't doubt you could survive Oni Lee, if you took some hits from Lung, but they recently recruited a new member. Bakuda. A bomb tinker."

Oh… oh wow, she could see how that could go badly, and fast.

"Glad to see you understand. She has bombs that lock someone in time, or turn them into glass, all kinds of ridiculous things. Her first appearance was her taking a University hostage because she got a bad grade."

Taylor winced. Sounded like a Grade A Psycho.

"I don't doubt you can shrug off physical hits, but our preliminary research indicates Bakuda is a hard counter to brutes and regenerators. If you were in the Wards, she likely wouldn't go that far because it would mean an instant kill order, and on top of that you'd have teammates to help bail you out if she tried. But if you want to stay independent, it might be best to let their attention fall against me."

He certainly made a good point, as disappointing as it was to admit. She didn't really want to join the Wards, because it'd just be more high school drama, and while she doubted they let people like Sophia in (they were heroes), she just didn't need any more of that in my life right now.

But that didn't mean she couldn't see Armsmaster's _other_ motive. Him getting credit for bringing Lung down would be huge. Still though, he'd been pretty nice to her so far, and he did have a point.

"I… would like you to keep my involvement in capturing Lung a secret." It pained her to say it.

He smiled. It was a very, very nice smile.

"I'm sure you'll look back and realise this was a good decision. Fame is nice, and an important part of being a cape, but it isn't worth making an enemy of such a strong gang just yet. If you're ever in a pinch, call the PHQ," He said, handing me his card. It had his emblem on it, as well as the PRT's, with two phone numbers for their respective organisations.

Taylor smiled. He was basically saying he owed me one, without admitting it.

Perhaps she'd reconsider the Wards, or at least put more thought into it. Sure, it could be high school drama, but the emphasis there was _could_. At the least she could perhaps get a tour of their base, see what they were like as people. If they were anything like Armsmaster, it'd be fun to join them. Sure he was a bit of a glory hound, but everyone had their faults, and at least he was forthcoming about it.

Taylor was practically beaming as she made her way home, her mood not even tempered by the fact that tomorrow was a school day. She'd met Armsmaster, and made a good impression on him! And he was genuinely grateful to her, and had given her advice, and oh god it was so cool!

Taylor forced herself to calm down. Yes, it wasn't every day you met your childhood Heroes, but she needed to actually walk home, and be careful not to wake her dad. Armsmaster waved goodbye as he rode off with Lung, rather comically strapped to his motorcycle. Well, perhaps one minute of being excited couldn't hurt, so Taylor let herself enjoy the moment.

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 **As always, any feedback is appreciated greatly. Even if it's just telling me I messed up and his chapter has a completely different tone to the last one and is thus ruined, or just 'You're an idiot'. I have a tendency not to notice my mistakes unless people point them out, so please do.**

 **~T**


	3. Vous Alors! (Think you can dance?)

**Right! New chapter! First things first, sorry about the slight time skip - I wasn't happy with any of the six tries I took at the next little bit cannonically, and the only one I felt was passable was basically unchanged. So yeah, I skipped. Second thing, I decided to go with Taylor as an independent Hero - I'd written for both options, and they were way too dark, or just bad quality. So I took a third. Sorry if this annoys you.**

 **Third, thank you all very much for the feedback. A lot of people have pointed out flaws and given constructive criticism, and I hope the chapter will answer some of the questions you have had. I appreciate all reviews, favorites and follows - It seriously makes my day, you guys are amazing. So thank you all for your support. As always, any feedback is welcome. Response to reviews after chapter.**

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Taylor sighed as she wandered around town aimlessly, reflecting on her life. Her bullies were still tormenting her, which was why she was wandering around the streets during school hours. She wasn't worried about getting mugged or shot, this was one of the good areas of town. Even without that, the only reason she'd be afraid is that she'd be outed.

Taylor sighed again. Yes, that was pretty much the only thing she was still afraid of. After testing out her powers, and realising just how fragile the human body could be, she was terrified for her father. Which was why, when the Undersiders had offered her a position, she'd hesitated. Sure, their identities would be great things to bring to the Protectorate. But instead, she imagined what she would feel like if that happened to her.

If members of the ABB or the E88 acted friendly, let their guards down, and then attacked her father one night. The Undersiders were kids. They were still criminals, and she wouldn't hesitate to try and take them down, but involving their families, even if they had any, she'd never forgive herself for.

What's more, it seemed Tattletale, or Lisa, had recognised Taylor's fear, because she'd pulled her aside and blatantly told her that some dangerous people had spies in the PRT. So there goes the Wards program, which required your Civilian I.D and Parent's signature. New Wave embodied everything she didn't want, so they were out too. Which meant she'd have to go solo, which was a… depressing thought.

She looked up at Arcadia high as she walked past, silently berating her inability to attend. She had no hopes that the school would transfer her. She'd seen the secretary shred the paperwork in front of her one time, and suspected they'd been doing that for a while. And she had no chance of the bullying stopping, that was obvious.

There hadn't been more than a token investigation into the locker by the police, and the school hadn't even bothered with that. It was better than it had been, true. Physical pain didn't really hurt anymore, and her powers could usually save her ruined things. But Emma's barbs were agonising. Who used their ex best friend's mother's death against them?

If it weren't for that, she probably would've stayed at the school today. They'd put glue on her seat, and 'accidentally' spilled juice on her shirt. An accidental trip down the stairs (luckily no one was watching) had fixed it for her.

Her powers made no sense. They would restore her to health, and restore her stuff to how they'd been in the past. She'd found that out accidentally, after spending an hour writing in a notebook, and spilling some food on it. When she'd reset, _every single thing she'd written,_ bar two and a half letters had been gone. She'd then done push-ups until her arms were in agony, and reset, whereupon she'd gained muscle mass. Go figure.

She wasn't even sure where it'd come from, because she hadn't been hungry after. This morning, she'd brought a kitchen knife on her run to cut herself with when she got tired (and wow was that a sentence she'd never say aloud), and even though she couldn't time without a phone, she was a little bit faster after each reset.

Another thing she'd found out through that, was that she gained some kind of charge each time she died. She hadn't noticed, but once she became aware of it, she knew it was there. The charge had been barely a percent full, but when she'd tried to expend it, she'd left a crack in the pavement. After a few more deaths, and having sprinted away from the new crack, the charge had been back to where it had been.

It wasn't uncomfortable to not spend it, so she'd kept it. And gods was it tempting to shatter Emma's face like the pavement a school. The only reason she'd been able to hold back was, once again, out of fear for her father.

Still though, she was grateful to have it. She'd been thinking that, as strong as she could theoretically get normally, a normal human's strength would be no match for a brute. The charge was also probably how she'd taken down Lung, without even realising.

After all, the size of the charge gained had some vague correlation to the power of the blow that caused her death, and she could only guess how hard Lung had been hitting her. To be honest, it probably should've occurred to her sooner. Seriously, if taking Lung down was that easy, the Protectorate would've done it years ago.

But Lung having gone from fighting a girl with normal strength, and a giant monster dog plus a girl with far more strength than he'd had, that was a little bit more plausible.

Speaking of Lung… she fingered the card Armsmaster had given her. It was tempting, oh so tempting, to call him and ask him to deal with the bullies. But that would be a waste of a prominent Hero's time, and once again reveal her identity.

Taylor sighed and rammed her head into a tree, using her charge so she'd reset. She hated getting stuck in thought loops, especially on things like her bullying. It was bad enough they made school painful, no need to let them ruin her outside of it.

And then the building in front of her was consumed by Darkness. Taylor's eyes widened, even as it quickly passed. That was definitely Grue's power. And the building was Brockton Bay Central Bank. It wasn't exactly complicated to put together what was happening. Taylor cursed as she ducked around a corner, along with the two or three other people who'd been nearby.

Taylor cursed herself for not bringing her costume, as irrational as it was, and thought. She spotted a nearby clothing store, but that would undoubtedly have cameras. Plus, seeing someone rush into your store, buy and don clothes, and then run off to participate in a cape fight would be fairly obvious.

Taylor opened her bag to see if there was anything she could use. Books, nope. Pencil case, pointless. Chalk, why the hell did she even have that in her bag? Nope. And… that might just work.

It was an old hoody, emphasis on old. One of the few things she wore to school, on the off chance she wouldn't be able to reset. As much as it embarrassed her, parts of her shirt were partially see-through. It would be awkward. She hoped to hell no one would see her. But she wasn't going to let villains, however nice they may have been, rob a bank without at least _trying_ to stop them.

Taylor sighed and ducked into a small alley, hoping desperately no one would walk past. She pulled off her shirt, quickly donning the hoody, and wrapped the shirt to cover her face. It restricted her vision, and restricted her breathing, but neither the hoody nor the shirt would give anything away in regards to her identity, as they had no brand labels.

As long as she violently disposed of them after, and could tolerate the smell of her own sweat during, it would be… not good, but passable. She tied the shirt in a knot so it wouldn't come off easily, and slid up the hood. Walking back into the street, she slumped upon seeing herself in a mirror. She looked ridiculous.

Oh well, that was something she was used to, so she began making her way to the bank. Much to her surprise, she saw what seemed to be the entirety of the Wards lined up outside the bank. How the hell they'd gotten here so quietly she had no clue, because she hadn't heard a thing.

Taylor started walking towards them, hands in the air to show she meant no harm. Some of them quickly spotted her, and they stopped the conversation they'd been having, turning to face her.

Aegis turned slightly to one of the others, then started talking. "There's currently a group of Supervillains attacking the area, sir. May I ask you to retreat to a safe distance? If a fight breaks out, there's no guarantee we can protect you."

Ignore that he thought he thought I was a dude, and that his voice was sounding really weird, I pressed on. "I'm an independent Hero, I was hoping to help." Taylor felt all of them start looking her up and down. "I didn't have my costume on me, so I had to make do."

Aegis held up his hand, and I stopped. He started speaking quietly, tapping his ear. Presumably talking into a microphone.

"What's your name?" Aegis called out to her.

"Renewal."

Aegis kept talking, then listened to a reply and nodded to himself.

"Right, welcome aboard, Renewal. Pleasure to have you. To be honest, I've never heard of you, but apparently you impressed the higher ups. I'll bring you up to speed quickly; the Undersiders, a group of minor villains, decided to rob the bank for some reason. Protectorate's out of town for the night, so they won't make it in time. Vista's bent the space so there's only one exit: the doors in front of us."

As if on cue, the doors opened and a few civilians started walking out. "Shit!" Aegis muttered.

"Lay on the ground!" Gallant yelled, and Taylor saw some of the civilians start to comply, before a wave of darkness sprayed out. Kid Win started spraying the entrance with gunfire, and the rest of the Wards spread out and braced themselves.

"Renewal, protect Vist-" Clockblocker started, only to be cut off when he was pounced on by a giant, monstrous dog. Taylor felt a spark of fear, until Clockblocker flung one of the dogs off him, despite gouge marks in his arms. Oh. He must be Aegis, and they'd swapped costumes. It would've likely been really effective, if it weren't for Tattletale.

She resisted the urge to dash in and help as the Heroes all started doing their own thing. She knew she was a close combat only cape, but they'd wanted her to protect Vista, and it'd probably throw them off if she joined in. Plus, she wasn't really keep on fighting in Grue's darkness.

Plus, now that she thought about it, having a brute protect the member who could easily prevent them from escaping, and who couldn't really protect themselves, might be a good idea. So she moved over to Vista, and almost threw up as the distance started increasing vastly. She was very glad her vision was impaired, or she probably would've lost her lunch.

One of the dogs abandoned Aegis, instead bounding towards them. The other had Aegis grasped in its mouth, and was using him as a chew toy, shaking him all around while he struggled to free himself. A Hero she couldn't recognise was trying to get close enough to free him. Kid Win was shooting wildly, more often than not hitting his teammates, and even as she watched took a nosedive towards the ground. She couldn't see Clockblocker, so She assumed her was in Grue's darkness.

She snapped back to the Monstrous dog approaching her, deciding it was the only real threat at the moment. As long as Vista kept her thing up, the Undersiders couldn't leave. And if the dog took her down, they would be home free.

As if on cue with her internal monologue, the dog finally crossed the ever increasing gap between Vista and the rest, pouncing towards her. Taylor mentally sighed, stepping in front of Vista, and doing everything possible to take the blow for her.

She was completely unsurprised that it hurt badly, as she died almost instantly from the dog's weight. Evidently, it hadn't counted on someone being stupid enough to literally throw themselves under it. Vista let out a slight gasp of concern, as Taylor kicked the dog's stomach. It glanced down at her, before turning back to Vista and preparing to leap.

"Nope!" Taylor exclaimed, grabbing its back paw and using what little charge she'd accumulated. It was barely enough, but it threw the dog enough off balance that it tripped and fell on its side. The dog growled violently as it scrambled to its feet, leaping once more at Vista, but failing once again as the girl had gotten a few extra meters distance from Taylor's distraction.

Taylor ran at it, Vista quickly shortening the distance, and rammed the dog in the face with her full body weight. The dog barely moved, but it was distracted and blinded. It tried to fling her off by shaking its head rapidly, but Taylor clung on for dear life. A whistle sounded from the bank, and immediately the dog became more aggressive, splattering her against the pavement.

"AH YOU FUCKER!" Taylor yelped, caught off guard. Having your entire lower body removed was painful, and in this case, certainly unexpected. Before she could reorient herself, the dog snapped its jaws down, crushing her head, and flung her body to the side, by a few meters. Taylor skidded into a stand, leaping back and the dog and kicking it.

The dog was flung almost as far as it'd thrown her, which was sadly only a few meters, but Taylor still felt badass. But she could focus on that later, as the dog let out a yelp and got back up. About a third of a percent charged, having used roughly that on her kick.

Taylor smiled under her 'mask', and focused on her opponent as best as she could through fabric.

She could do this.

* * *

 **Quick apology for ending there, the chapter would've taken ungodly amounts of time to finish the fight scene, so I split it into two chapters.**

 **~T**


	4. Don't stop me! (I'm having a good time)

**So! I'm sorry this one took a bit longer than the others, this will likely continue, because I unfortunately have other things I need to work on. On another note... Apparently for every fifty words I've written for this story, I get a favorite. That is... frankly amazing, you guys are awesome, and I desperately hope I don't disappoint. But for now, onwards!**

 **Edit: Oh, right. I'm not Wildbow, the characters are all his. If you think I'm Wildbow, and it lasts for more than four hours, please consult your local physician.**

* * *

Attempting to stare down a monstrous dog might be a stupid thing to do, but the dog seemed to disagree, taking it as a challenge as it begun to circle her. Apparently Vista wasn't quite as high priority anymore, or the Undersiders had realised that they wouldn't be able to get to her. Taylor felt strange, as a surge of Adrenalin ran through her. She was genuinely hyped for this fight, and felt a savage kind of glee, which confused her, because she wasn't actually a violent person.

Before she could ponder further, the dog leapt at her, swiping her head off before landing on her and crushing her. In response, Taylor shoved the dog off of her and scrambled to her feet, running to meet its next charge, carefully taking note of how much charge she was receiving. To stand a decent chance, she'd need to take the dog out with one or two incredibly powerful blows.

Taylor felt Vista close the distance between her and her opponent, which staggered her just enough for the dog to bite down on her head again. Apparently Vista had decided she could take a beating, and had set her up for a return blow. Not wanting to disappoint, she head butted the dog's teeth, feeling her forehead crack on impact, as well as two of the teeth snapping off. The dog yelped and Taylor grinned.

Wow, it could be fun fighting when you didn't have to worry about getting hurt. Other than ensuring you got as hurt as you possibly could. Sure, she still felt pain, but only for a second.

The dog growled at her and lunged. Taylor let it hit her, before hitting it as hard as she could in the face. The dog collapsed to the ground, but got back up and kept attacking her. Instead of dodging, Taylor moved into the blows, and watched her charge fill up rapidly. She could definitely see why Bitch usually held her dogs back. If she were a baseline human, any one of these blows would've torn her to shreds.

Her charge was at about three percent now, so Taylor started looking for an opening. Finding one, she ducked to the side of a bite, and kicked the dog in the side of the head. It was definitely a clumsy kick, something that would get her laughed out of any martial arts dojo in the country. But the dog went down, and with Vista's help, made it all the way back to the other Wards.

It didn't quite stay down, but started shrinking rapidly. Huh, apparently Bitch's dogs were the dog version of Lung. Bitch quickly dashed over to make sure the dog was okay, rushing out in the middle of a fight, and Taylor felt a slight pang of regret. She really did care about her pets. But she dismissed it, this was a cape fight, and buffing her dogs was Bitch's power. This wouldn't be the first, or last, time they got hurt.

Vista snapped Taylor from her thoughts by closing the distance between them and stepping over to her.

"Good work," She said simply, trying to catch a glimpse of the fight through Grue's darkness.

"Thanks," Taylor replied, awkwardly. Seriously, fighting monsters _was_ easier than social interaction. She did find it somewhat adorable how serious Vista was trying to be, given her size and age, but figured the girl wouldn't appreciate having it pointed out.

Besides, if memory served, Vista was the longest serving of the Wards. Being treated like a kid must actually kind of suck for her.

The two stood in awkward silence for a few minutes, before suddenly the darkness dropped, revealing a panting Aegis standing next to a frozen Grue. Right, Clockblocker, just an Aegis costume. Without the darkness, the fight quickly turned around, as Kid Win finally landed a shot from his… cannon? That hadn't been there before, against the dog holding the real Aegis. The dog dropped him, and after a whistle rang out, it ran over to Bitch, who was still caring for the dog Taylor fought.

The still giant one was growling a bit, but Bitch seemed to have realised the fight was over, and just wanted to take care of her pets. Regent seemed to realise this, too, because he turned and bolted without a second's hesitation. Vista's eyes snapped to attention and thrust out a hand to increase the distance, but was a few seconds too late, and the boy was gone.

When Glory Girl – when had she gotten here? - floated out of a hole in the wall of the bank that Taylor was sure hadn't been there before, holding an unconscious Tattletale, the civilians cowering on the steps leading out of the bank seemed to realise the fight was over, and hesitantly stood up, some thanking the Heroes, others moving about to continue what they'd been doing, and one strange man kneeling and seemingly worshiping the ground.

"PRT van's on the way, we just need to secure them until then," Vista said quietly besides her, and Taylor nodded. The distance between the two of them and the other Wards vanished, and Vista got to work making the ground within a few meters of Bitch unescapable, even as Aeg- Clockblocker tagged Tattletale, and kept his hands on the two frozen villains, waiting for them to unfreeze.

Kid Win landed next to them, with Aegis and the ward Taylor didn't recognise quickly forming a loose circle with the others. Gallant seemed to be unconscious, but didn't look too injured.

"Are you and your sister okay?" Aegis asked Glory girl.

"Yeah, just… a little shaken up," She replied, a slight waver in her voice. "This one said some stuff." She finished, jerking a thumb towards Tattletale.

"Go home and rest then, you two both could use some time. We can get you for a debrief later."

Glory girl nodded, and walked over to where Panacea was walking out of the bank, in her civilian clothes. Her face was completely emotionless, and she seemed almost catatonic. Looking at the broken glint in her eyes, Taylor decided she couldn't be more thankful she hadn't joined the Undersiders, if that's the sort of thing Tattletale did.

Glory girl grabbed her sister around the waist and they flew off.

Aegis then turned to her. "You did good work. If Vista had gone down, they probably would've gotten away. Are you up for a debriefing? You don't need to come for one if you don't want to, and they can be a bit boring, but it'd help us if you did."

"S-sure," Taylor replied. Damn, he fit the role of a leader. Even with multiple pieces missing, and a shredded costume that wasn't his own, he sounded in charge and didn't hesitate, and stood in a way that just made you focus on him.

He sounded like he was smiling, but she couldn't tell through Clockblocker's mask. "Good to hear." He said genuinely, before turning and walking to Gallant. After a few seconds of prodding, he helped Gallant stand up, who mumbled a thanks, and swayed slightly. Presumably he'd had a less favourable experience with Bitch's dogs than she had, because nothing else the Undersiders had should've been able to hit him through his armour.

"Ugh… I hate that darkness," He mumbled to himself. Well, apparently she was wrong. Was it really that disorienting being blinded?

After Clockblocker refroze Grue, Gallant seemed to notice her standing there, and staggered half a step towards her.

"Oh, hey 'Newal! Glad yourshtl her…" He slurred out, sounding drunk. Looks like trying to speak right after getting up from being unconscious was a bad idea. Gallant seemed to realise this and leaned back, shaking his head to steady himself "Sorry 'bout that. Glad you're still up. Thanks for keeping Vista safe."

Taylor thought Vista might feel scorned or insulted, but to the contrary, she perked up completely and… was that a slight blush? Gallant pretended to not notice anything, which might be for the best. Rumours had it he was dating Glory girl, and even without that, a twelve year old having a crush on you would be… awkward.

"Just glad I could help," Taylor replied. And she was. It felt amazing to know that she'd helped capture a gang of Villains, and that she'd genuinely aided Heroes… she was still getting used to it, and hadn't fully accepted it. But it still brought a smile to her face. Take that, Emma, Sophia and Madison. She was a Hero, and that was something they couldn't take from her.

* * *

The ride to the PRT building was awkward. Not because it was quiet, which seemed to mainly be because Clockblocker and Gallant were injured, and getting checked over by doctors. It was because whenever the others tried to start a conversation, Taylor had no idea what to say. It had been, what… three months? Since she'd last had a conversation, and that had been with her dad over dinner, about her hospital stay.

So in reality, it had been more than a year since she'd last had a friendly conversation with people her age. Don't get her wrong, she enjoyed it, but she still had no idea what to do, and small talk quickly died down. To be fair, they'd at least tried, which was certainly more than anyone else her age had done in a long time.

Even in a short window of time, they'd all expressed who they were. Vista was bubbly and energetic, yet tried to act mature and regal. Kid Win was easily distracted and a huge nerd. Aegis was dedicated to protecting the others. The other Ward, who she'd found out was named Browbeat… had kind of just been quiet.

Still, Taylor was incredibly grateful when the van they were in the back of pulled up next to the PRT HQ, and followed the Wards awkwardly as they made their way inside. They entered through what seemed to be a secret entrance, which was cool, and Taylor was thankful. If people got photos of what her 'costume' was, she felt like she'd genuinely die of shame.

Thankfully, the moment they arrived at the Wards are, Aegis strode over to a small box and tossed her a plain domino mask, with a slight smirk.

"You're not the first new cape we've had in the base without a full costume, and sometimes putting on a full mask isn't really practical, so we keep a pile of these around. One size fits all. I figured you might be more comfortable in that than wrapped up in a shirt, but you don't have to put it on if you don't want to." With that, all of them sat down in some of the seats nearby, facing away from her.

Taylor quickly flipped down her hood and took off the shirt, stuffing it in her hoodie's pocket, before laying on the mask and raising her hood again. "Thanks," She said simply, and the Wards assumed more natural seating poses. Damn, now that the shirt was gone, Taylor felt really icky, so she wiped some of the sweat off onto her hoodie. Not much better than on her face, but it would do for now.

There was a loud buzzing sound.

"What's that?" Taylor asked.

"A signal that visitors are inbound, so anyone without a mask can mask up," Vista replied happily. "It's a thirty second warning, so they should come in about… now."

As if on cue, the doors slid open and Gallant strode in. Gallant was still in his armour, but looked a lot more healthy and centred, and was wheeling a whiteboard. "Alright, Clockblocker'll be fine, but he's still resting up, so he'll be sitting this one out. Aegis, Panacea should be along in a few minutes. She seemed pretty set on healing everyone, so you should go see her. Can't have you going to school looking like that."

Aegis seemed hesitant. "She should be resting, but… if this'll help her get back on her feet, I suppose it can't hurt."

Taylor was definitely confused at that. "What happened?"

"We don't really know, but if you'd met Amy and Vicky before, you would've been able to tell they were pretty messed up at the bank," Gallant said sadly. "Not sure what Tattletale said, but I'm glad we got her. But enough pessimism for now, Aegis, mind if I take this one?"

Aegis nodded. "Go ahead. I should probably get changed anyway. Clockblocker's costume, really isn't comfortable. Not sure how much help I'd be anyway, I spent the fight mainly as a chew toy." With that, he walked off.

Gallant clapped his hands. "Right. I just want to start off by saying, today was a definite win. It doesn't matter that one of them got away, due to all of your actions, three criminals are behind bars. Let's start off by going over what we know of them."

* * *

 **Wards POV**

Armsmaster strode in confidently, with a notepad and a pen tucked underneath the arm of his armor.

"I'll keep this as quick as I can. Now that Renewal is gone, let's start on a profile on her. First, any questions?" He said impatiently.

Gallant sighed lightly and raised his hand. "I still don't think this is... right. We never did this for Browbeat, and she's helped us."

"She also fought Lung for more than ten minutes alone, and walked away unscathed." Armsmaster replied and a few of the Wards gasped. "I don't like doing this either, but if she ever turns villain, it'll be harder to take her down than it is to take down Alabaster, if my suspicions are correct. And as you all know, only four Heroes in this city could reliably take him down. I'll start with what I know, and please update me if you can.

"So far, we know she's a regenerator who 'resets' from damage recieved, and a Brute strong enough to fling around several tons of mass. In addition, when she's confined, her body seems to jump out of it. That's all I know, anything else will help. Vista, you spent the most time near her, anything you can add?"

Vista nodded. "She seemed to get stronger as the fight progressed, in a way. Sometimes, her blows would pick the dog up off the ground, but sometimes they would do nothing but annoy it. It's likely her strength has some kind of cool down, or isn't always on. I can't say for sure how quickly it resets, but at the end she kicked the dog nearly forty meters, without my assistance. But from the way she acted, she seemed to think I'd helped her there, so she doesn't seem to be aware of how strong she is. When the dog was holding her and pulverized her lower body, it still held her after she reset, but when it landed on her she reset to somewhere else. I think it might have to do with how much of her is contained, so containment foam might still work."

Armsmaster nodded his thanks, writing down a few notes before turning to the others. "Anything the rest of you can add?"

The Wards all shook their heads, bar Kid Win. "She seemed to have some adverse reaction to Vista's power. It was subtle, but each time Vista bent space near her, Renewal seemed to stumble a bit. I can't be too sure, because Regent was messing with my aim and line of sight, but I'm fairly certain."

After a moment of silent contemplation, Armsmaster continued. "Thank you for your time. If that's all we have for now, I'll go draft some potential countermeasures. Please keep in mind that she is still a Hero. Her power is just potentially very dangerous. The fact that she doesn't seem aware of some of the aspects of her powers means we can give her more leeway, but we still need to watch her. Dismissed."

* * *

 **As Always, feedback is welcome**

 **~T**


	5. PHOtographs (Get it?)

**Right! So, surprise update! Also, I'm trying something different, so please let me know how I go.**

 **Also: I am not a Wildbow, except for the 31st of February, when I am.**

* * *

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 **Topic: New Brute?**

 **In: Boards World USA North East Brockton Bay Discussion**

 **DSee_Roshington** (Original Poster)

Posted on April 14th, 2011

Brockton Bay Central was apparently robbed around midday today [LINK]

Apparently there's a new cape in Brockton Bay with a… unique costume. Also, apparently Browbeat joined the Wards. Good on him, but that's not the point of this thread, but rather [THIS] one. Same goes for the Undersiders, and discussion on their new motif, which is [HERE].

I happened to be in the vicinity, and despite being unable to get a video (ancient phones, amirite?) I snapped a few pics.

[1][2][3][4][5][6]

And for good luck, here's a picture of my neighbour's cat [LINK]

Apparently the new cape was working with Vista, but there wasn't a Ward reveal, so we know he's independent. He's also probably a brute, because he took a pretty heavy beating from one of Hellhound's dogs, and didn't really seem worse for wear. Possibly a breaker, too? His costume wasn't so much as scratched.

So, anyone go da juicy deets on the new cape?

EDIT: The new cape is apparently called Renewal, a brute/breaker 5 (Brute effect extends to clothes) and is also female. Thanks, Bagrat.

 **(Showing page 1 of 5)**

 **Cniorgullivan**

Replied on April 14th, 2011

lol dont capes normally have a costume

 **FluffleMyGuffle** (Cape Husband)

Replied on April 14th, 2011

Ah, here we have the very definition of why people sometimes give Brutes lip on their costumes. Unless they're wearing it ironically, or are only pretending to be a brute to mask their real power. Could be a clever play by the new guy.

 **Grouff** (Tinfoil Hat)

Replied on April 14th, 2011

Guys, guys! Obviously the 'new' cape is just a villain in disguise! The PRT just don't want us to know they had a villain helping them, so they covered them up! Maybe it's a new member of the Undersiders, who'd found out their dark secrets and decided to bring the group to Justice!

After all, the Undersiders have never fought a losing battle before, why else would they stop being the 'masters of escape' and fight the majority of the Wards lineup?!

 **Darksolo7997** (Temp-Banned)

Replied on April 14th, 2011

Cniorgullivan:

Or maybe they were caught by surprise from the attack? Or their costume is a work in progress and they don't want to show it? They were pretty quick getting on the scene, they might have an actual costume they'd just forgotten. I hope so at least. I mean, I'd _like_ to say I've seen worse… but…

Grouff:

Just… just leave. Not only is it not on topic, assuming a cape we've never heard of before is both a villain and a Hero is dumb. Plus, if they were a villain, we would've heard about it, likely in the form of them being arrested.

On a side note, does anyone know if the new guy is actually a cape? They don't really look it.

 **BroTaku1337**

Replied on April 14th, 2011

Darksolo7997:

I was also nearby at the time. One of Hellhound's dogs landed on him. He shoved it off and freed himself. I'd say that's proof enough. Also, please try to avoid insulting the new cape. Even if that is their costume, that just means they can't afford anything better. Don't be classist, man.

Besides, why would a non-cape throw themselves into a cape fight?

 **Darksolo7997** (Temp-Banned)

Replied on April 14th, 2011

BroTaku1337:

Pretty sure that comment, in itself, was classist. They could've just not assembled a proepr costume yet, assuming they're povo because they're wearing old clothes is stupid,

 **User has received an infraction for this post** :

 **Debating a cape's wealth while insulting fellow forum goers isn't permitted. Calm down – Ironic_Iron**

 **Bagrat** (Veteran Member) (The Guy in the Know)

Okay! Not much I can contribute, but I'll update you all with that I know. Apparently the new cape's named Renewal, and is female. That's right; a new Heroine's here in BB, with a tentative rating of Brute/Breaker 5. Apparently her Brute rating transfers itself to her costume.

According to my sources, this wasn't Renewal's first time out, but her second, but either way she's very new. Not sure what happened on her first night, but it was probably just something minor like stopping a robbery.

Point is, the new Cape's already building a friendship with the Protectorate, and we may have another new Ward at some time in the near future. Allow me to emphasise that so the mods don't have to. She's Wards age. Don't be creepy.

 **Pastaioli**

Replied April 6th, 2011

We sure she's a girl? Doesn't look it.

Also, if they're not joining the Protectorate, it kind of makes you wonder what their hiding… just saying.

In regards to their costume… yeah, it's pretty stupid. Hopefully they get a better one soon.

 **Ironic_Iron** (Moderator) (For great Justice!)

Replied on April 14th, 2011

Pastaioli:

O…kay… Not sure how you managed to mess with the date on your post, but whatever it is you did, please don't do it again. And watch yourself with that last part, or I might have to give you an infraction. Saying someone isn't joining the Protectorate means they're hiding something isn't true. Capes have lots of reasons, and we know they're new.

The might just not want to commit to anything. Please refrain from implying dark secrets based on prejudices.

Also, stop bagging on the new cape's costume, guys. Today was pretty much their debut.

 **Darksolo7997** (Temp-Banned)

Replied on April 14th, 2011

OMG guys, what if the 'new' cape is Lung? Think about it. He got captured, and within a week a new brute shows up? Whst the ods of that? And look, they're the same height and everything!

 **User has received a warning for this post.**

 **Just… stop. It's insulting to them, they're trying to be a Hero. Next time it's a ban – Ironic_Iron**

 **AlexandriaFangu96** (Cape Groupie)

Replied on April 14th, 2011

Darksolo7997:

Just… just no. First off, Lung is not only taller, he's built vastly differently. Second, we have confirmation the cape is a girl. Third, 'Lung' neither grew nor started flinging fire. Fourth, Lung's clothes don't regenerate.

EDIT: Stranger'd

 **Darksolo7997** (Temp-Banned)

Replied on April 14th, 2011

Lung was just obv not using his fire to better hide, duh. And him being a girl is obv misinformation. Do they look like a girl to you?

 **User has received a seven day ban for this post.**

 **Warned you – Ironic_Iron**

 **Bromeo**

Replied on April 14th, 2011

Lol does anyone have anything productive to say? Or we just insulting the new manly girl cape?

 **MoiWeston**

Replied on April 14th, 2011

Bromeo:

You freaking hypocrite. But I do kind of agree, no one seems to be contributing, so instead: SENSIBLE speculation.

How do people think the new cape's power works? I caught a bit of hte end of the fight on video [HERE], and they were taking blows and bleeding, but the blows just… vanished.

Any thoughts?

 **Bromeo**

Replied on April 14th, 211

Holly crap did they just kick the dog that far? We sure Brute 5 is doing them justice?

* * *

Taylor sighed as she scrolled through five more pages of basically the same. If she wasn't in public, she would've face planted against the keyboard and groaned, but at school in Mrs Knott's class, that could possibly out her. Hehe, wouldn't that be a funny way to out yourself? Score one Taylor, worst outing in the history of capes.

Still though, there had been a whole two page speculation on her gender. Did she really look like a guy? Also, why the hell did people think she was Lung? Let alone Legend, which seemed to somehow be the top theory. That didn't even make sense! Legend was releasing a press conference at the exact same time! Why were seemingly all the Tinfoil Hats migrating to the thread about her? Sometimes she hated PHO, but she hadn't been able to resist looking herself up, dreading the answer.

Because now she knew for a fact that her horrible 'costume' would always be remembered in the history of the internet. Taylor swore to herself then and there, that she wouldn't fight crime unless she was in her actual costume. It may still be crappy, but at least it was passable.

And worse, rather than just a few pics, someone had caught a video… What was WRONG with civilians in Brockton Bay? See someone fighting a giant dog, oh, let's get as close as we can and record it! After all, why would we need to leave, it's not like there's a dangerous fight going on!

But nonetheless, she swore that the moment she got home, she would burn that old shirt and hoody. Possibly more than once. She would burn that fucking hoody until she was content to let it stay burned. She'd known it was a terrible idea.

If she'd had it on her, she wouldn't have waited. But seeing as it was possible, and in this cape it totally happened, that someone caught a photo of her, she'd left the hoodie at home. If literally anyone else had used PHO and seen her on the same day, bam. Outed. So her delivering righteous Justice upon the hoody would sadly have to wait.

The bell rang, and Taylor carefully logged out of PHO, cleared her browser history and shut the computer down, and begun making her way to Mr Gladly's history class. Joy. So instead of her usual route, she took a longer one. Sure, that ensured there would be something on her chair by the time she showed up, but she had a distinctly harder time caring now that she could ignore and repair the damage.

But apparently, fate wasn't on her side today, because she spotted Sophia approaching. Lovely. She didn't even have the same class as her, and she had to deal with her crap. It wasn't like it actually bothered her anymore, it was more the principal of the thing. Judging from Sophia's pace, she planned to trip Taylor down the stairs.

And then Taylor had a wonderful, wonderful idea. It was a stupid idea, yes, but it would be hilarious, and right now, Taylor could use some cheering up. So she pretended not to notice Sophia and descended the stairs. About halfway down, Sophia 'coincidentally' bumped violently into her, knocking her into the wall.

"Watch it, He-" Sophia started, a smug smile beginning to grow, only to be interrupted by Taylor.

"Mmm, hit me again," She said, putting as much desire as she could into it. Taylor knew she wasn't a good actor, but apparently it was unexpected enough that Sophia couldn't tell. And the look on her face… Taylor barely stopped herself from cracking up, but a smile small slid onto her face, likely making her act all the more convincing.

"The fuck, Hebert?" Sophia said, jaw hanging and sounding completely outraged. And slightly shell shocked. Taylor shot Sophia a sly smile, and this seemed to break her from her confusion. Whereupon she punched Taylor square in the face.

Taylor didn't flinch, letting her head turn with the blow. Compared to the bank, this was genuinely nothing, and she grinned. "My, my, so eager to flirt, Soph."

"Get away, you freak!" Sophia yelled, storming off. The moment Taylor suspected she was out of earshot, she began chuckling, then laughing, and within moments was almost crying as she cackled uncontrollably. Sure, there would be all kinds of new rumours about her, but she didn't care. Sophia's face made it worthwhile.

Picking herself and 'accidentally' crushing her skull on a nearby wall to prevent bruising, Taylor began making her way to class, a smile on her face for what felt like the first time in years.

* * *

 **So... I suck at PHO Interludes. If anyone would like to do it better, feel free. Feedback is appreciated, as always**

 **~T**


	6. It's Just a Flesh Wound!

**Right! So, uh... here's the next chapter! Thanks to everyone for their continued support, it really means a lot to me! I hope you enjoy!**

 **Disclaimer: Wildbow doesn't live in the same Continent as I do, so obviously I am not Wildbow. I'm his evil twin!**

* * *

Strangely enough, Taylor was… not quite looking forward to school, but no longer dreading it. Which still wierded her out a bit. It used to be the bane of all, a most feared and unholy burden she undertook! And now, while it still wasn't pleasant, it was kind of fun. Madison's pranks, Taylor could get a laugh at. After all, the girl spent more time setting them up than Taylor did caring, which was kind of hilarious.

Emma's barbs, Taylor just kind of felt… detached. Some of them still hurt. There wasn't really anything positive with that, no real silver lining, but Taylor had accepted Emma as she was. She used to cling to the hope that the 'real' Emma was hiding somewhere, and they could be BFF's again. Now… Emma was as dead to her as her mother, and while Emma was still painful, now that it felt impersonal, it didn't hurt nearly as much.

Emma's other hangers on had never bothered her, and still didn't, besides being sheepish wastes of space. And even with all this, she could confidently say that wasn't why she enjoyed school. No, that candle went to Sophia.

All day, Sophia had shot her these looks, trying to be intimidating. As if on habit, she would drift slightly towards her in the hallways. Then Taylor would smirk, and Sophia would continue what she was doing, ramming into her. Every time, Taylor didn't so much as flinch, and the girl seemed close to breaking point. Apparently she was furious.

So Taylor was utterly unsurprised that Sophia 'just so happened' to come across her eating her lunch in the locker hallway, which she'd taken to doing lately. The air was far fresher, a lot cleaner than the inside of the girl's bathroom. Plus, it was almost entirely deserted. No one used their lockers, bar the very start of lunch, and the very end. Sophia looked absolutely livid, and was glaring in a way that previously would've scared her.

"You must think it's pretty fucking funny, huh, Hebert?" Sophia snarled, before punching her square in the jaw. That was… a surprise. She'd expected Sophia to start with something smaller. But Taylor refused to let herself flinch, instead smiling.

"Oh, so bold. I like it," Taylor practically purred.

"Cut the fucking act," Sophia replied, stalking forward menacingly, cocking back her fist for another blow.

* * *

That's when the floor began shaking, and an ear splitting explosion rang out in the distance. Sophia's eyes were drawn to a nearby window, and her jaw dropped slightly. More and more explosions rang out in the distance.

Taylor's first thought, was that at least the bomber had the decency to not ruin a weekend. Her second thought was pondering why she thought that was important, and her third thought wanted to punch the parts of her brain that had focused on that. Judging from the differing noise levels, the bombs were going off randomly, meaning, knowing her luck, there was one VERY nearby.

Well.

Crap.

A quick scan of the room, and her eyes lay on a tiny black rectangle attached to one of the lockers near the end. The reason she hadn't seen it earlier, was that it hadn't been beeping, nor was there a red light flashing. Taylor glanced at Sophia, even as she began to move. Sophia was dazed, and without her help, would probably die. A dark part of her mind, desperately wanted too. Sophia had unrepentantly made her life a living hell, for seemingly no reason. Hell, less than a minute ago she'd punched Taylor in the face.

Yet, Sophia had people who cared for her, as hard as it was for Taylor to swallow. People who would grieve her absence. Friends, and family. What kind of hero – heck, what kind of person? – would let someone die, just because they didn't like them? The kind of people who ran gangs like the E88 and the ABB. Even that wasn't what quite sold her thought, but rather, Taylor thought 'what would her mother think'.

So mentally grimacing, Taylor rammed into Sophia as hard as she could, using a small amount of her charge. There were a few cracks, all too loud from this distance, which sounded disturbingly like ribs breaking. Sophia was flung back almost five meters, and skidded nearly the same distance again, before coming to a stop against the rail of the staircase. She let out a cry of pain.

Taylor kept sprinting after her, but only made it three steps before stumbling, and catching herself on a nearby locker. Before she could push off, she heard the bomb go off and was consumed by pain as every nerve in her left arm and leg flared. Taylor hissed, and grimaced, blinking out the tears. She'd never been more grateful for her power than she was now. Without it, she suspected the pain would genuinely be unbearable.

Taylor looked back to her arm, expecting to find it missing. Instead, what she saw was far more disturbing. From about halfway down her bicep, it had been turned into glass. Her 'fingers' were currently welded to the glass locker she had rested against. Her left leg, from the knee down, was in a similar situation, being a new part of the floor.

Much to her surprise, this kind of damage wasn't enough to cause her to reset. Which, in a way, perhaps she was grateful for. Otherwise, she would've been outed to one of her bullies. Taylor looked up at Sophia, who was looking back, shocked, wide eyed, and seemingly unable to comprehend the situation. A familiar red dot caught Taylor's eyes, and her gaze flickered to the small box next to Sophia. Another bomb.

Taylor's eyes widened, and opened her mouth to yell out a warning, when the bomb detonated. Unlike the last one, it was absolutely silent. The area was doused in a faint red light. Taylor only realised what it did when the screaming started, and she felt like Lung was setting her on fire again. Sophia collapsed, yelling in agony and flailing around, with… tears beginning to stream out of her eyes.

It was a pain bomb. Taylor growled in anger, shunting the pain to the side. This was the work of a Tinker… Bakuku, wasn't it? Something like that. The ABB had decided to bomb the city, and as if horrific deaths weren't enough, some of the bombs were there only to hurt the survivors. Given the pain she was in, Taylor couldn't even begin to imagine what someone who felt pain at a normal level was feeling.

Taylor heard a cracking behind her, and her head spun around to look. The roof was collapsing. Not surprising, given that most of multiple walls had been turned to glass, but some parts of the roof hadn't. It probably wouldn't be a problem if she was the only person here, when it killed her she'd just reset, hopefully healing her arm and leg in the process. The other floors would be fine.

But Taylor wasn't the only person here. And it was her fault that was the case, having baited Sophia up here. Without pause, she reached up and snapped off her glass arm at the elbow. Glass shards shredded her hand, and blood began to pour, not only from that, but from her stump of an arm as well. Apparently the blood vessels were still intact. Stepping forward to brace herself, Taylor used the last, tiny fraction of charge she had to snap her leg off.

The roof was collapsing really quickly, and Taylor couldn't afford to reset with her powers. Sophia could see her. The pain had stopped, and Sophia was twitching limply on the floor, but there was a chance of her discovery, and she couldn't take that risk. Her father had to come before anything else.

Hopping forward as fast as Taylor could, she made it to Sophia just in time. The roof was nearly on top of them, so Taylor had no time to try a fancy trick. She grabbed Sophia and pulled her close to her chest, flinging herself down the stairs as best she could, back first.

Usually, it would've been a mild pain to Taylor now. But with her already fried nerves and missing limbs, it was complete agony, and she felt herself start to cry. When she felt something land on her intact leg, crushing her foot, and then felt her back slam repeatedly into the stairs, before finally a wall, she began to lose consciousness. Taylor couldn't feel her lower body, and suspected her spine had broken. The only thing she thought of before she did, was that she hoped they were safe.

* * *

When Sophia had woken up covered in blood, her first thought was ' _again'_? Then she realised there was an arm across her chest, in a rather… inappropriate place. So she threw the arm off, and punch to face whoever it was. Or she would've, if the pain from her cracked ribs hadn't caused her to double over.

Which is where she'd remembered where she was and what had happened. Ugh… how the hell was a wimp like Hebert that strong? And to think… she'd actually bothered to save her. Had their situations been reversed, Sophia probably would've tripped Hebert. _Another sign of how weak she is._

She was weak, she was prey. That's what Sophia had been convinced of for years. But… prey didn't help predators, predators didn't _need_ help from prey. That just… didn't happen. Stupid Hebert, refusing to conform to how the world was supposed to work.

Other than her cracked ribs, and a bit of disorientation, Sophia felt relatively fine. There was still some residue from the pain bomb, and she flinched when she remembered what that had felt like. Fucking Tinkers. She'd even gone into her shadow state, and it had still hit her! Although now that she thought about it, perhaps it was best it had, because otherwise Taylor probably would've noticed she was a living shadow.

And that would be bad, because then Hebert would probably do something stupid like report her to the PRT. She'd likely get monitor duty for a few weeks, or confinement to base, or something equally stupid and dull.

Sophia glanced down, and felt an unfamiliar feeling run through her chest. Hebert… no, Taylor's left arm was almost completely gone, a little stump connected to some shattered glass. The bottom half of her left leg was in a similar state. Her right hand was torn to shreds. Her right foot was a smear underneath a huge chunk of cement. All of the wounds were pouring blood. Judging by the already growing pool, she wouldn't survive much longer.

Sophia scowled, and thought ' _good'._ Taylor was a waste of space, nothing but prey. Which is why it confused her when that feeling came back, stronger than before. Sophia growled.

"You'd better fucking be thankful," She muttered, tearing off some strips from her shirt, and trying them tightly around the stumps of Taylor's limbs. Her hands fumbled a bit, as she tied them as tightly as she could. She had no hope of clotting the bleeding with the glass in the way. Her only hope was to cut off circulation.

Her leg was easy; just above the knee was an easy place to bind. Her arm was a bit harder, and her hand took some time. She couldn't just cut off circulation there, or Taylor would lose her remaining hand. So instead, as quickly as she could, she wrapped the strips into bandages. Her right leg was the easiest, as the foot was a complete write-off.

By the time she'd finished, the blood flow was almost stopped, only dripping very slightly, and Sophia cursed herself, checking for a pulse. She should've done that before wasting her time. But much to her… relief? Hebert's pulse was still there. It wasn't strong and steady, but it wasn't really weak either, like it should've been.

But the girl still needed an ambulance. Sophia growled again. "After this, were square, got it?" She said angrily to the unconscious body. She fished out her phone, which was thankfully intact, and dialled a number she'd been forced to memorise. Piggot's personal number, to use only in absolute emergencies. She would've tried the PRT hotline first, but she knew that would be flooded.

Within about ten seconds, it was picked up.

"Shadow Stalker, report. Are you okay?"

Sophia grunted. "A few cracked ribs, nothing serious. I was caught by one of the bombs. Bu-"

"What's your location? Winslow?" Piggot demanded urgently.

"Stairs to the second floor, but listen. I'm not the one who needs medical treatment," She replied forcefully. "A girl had her arm and leg taken off, turned into glass, and is bleeding to death. I've staunched the wounds as best I can, but she won't last long. She also has serious bruising and a few broken bones, if I had to guess."

There was a very, very brief pause before Piggot replied. "Ambulance on the way. I'll try to see if Panacea has time for the girl, but no promises."

The next words pained Sophia, and she thought she'd never have to say them. "Please do, she saved my life."

Piggot's reply allowed her to finally place the feeling she'd been having in her chest.

"You're lucky to have such a good friend."

The feeling was guilt.

* * *

 **So! How'd I do? And just by the by, Sophia is still going to be a minor character. She's not miraculously going to swap personalities and become BFF's with Taylor, nor will she stop being overly violent. She just now has respect and gratitude for Taylor, which she hates, as it makes her feel indebted and weak.**

 **As always, feedback is welcome**

 **~T**


	7. A Midnight Stroll (With a Knife)

**So! Merry Christmas everybody! What's that, I'm a day early? Damn. Uh... Preemptive merry Christmas? Basically I won't be able to update on Christmas,so I'm updating now. Please note there's an Important Author's note after the chapter.**

 **Thank you all for your continued support, it really means a lot to me. And is kind of ridiculously amazing. I mean, more than two hundred people have expressed interest! The last time two hundred people expressed even vague interest in what I was doing, it was when I was a minor character in a play! And if that wasn't nerve wracking enough, I've read some of the stuff some of you write! And Love it! *Squee***

 **Oh yeah, I'm not Wildbow. I'm Wob D Liw.**

* * *

When Taylor woke up with injuries slightly different to the ones she remembered suffering, as well as an injured head, she was concerned. She looked around and was in… some kind of hospital room? No one was really around, although she could see people bustling in the hallways.

Taking a second to examine herself, Taylor got far more concerned. Her arm… was healed, merely although part of her forearm had been torn off. That was bad. Someone could've seen her reset, and if Sophia was nearby, she _would_ be able to tell Taylor was a cape.

What concerned her even more, was that she still had bruised ribs, although not as bad as before, and well as a crushed foot. As well as a shredded hand, lacerated with dozens of cuts. Which most certainly should've been healed. And had been. It was faint, but she could tell easily that these injuries weren't in the same places she'd actually suffered them. Which meant someone _had_ seen her reset, and was particularly malicious, or wanted to hide that she was a cape.

Which really begged the question, of who. If it was a random Paramedic, she doubted they would've given her the injuries again. If it was Sophia, that was a train wreck waiting to happen.

Which actually brought up a good question for her. How the hell had she _gotten_ to hospital? She'd been practically inaccessible given the collapsed hallway. It would've been incredibly difficult to find her, and while she had fully expected to reset from her injuries, she'd hoped she would wake up when she did.

But she hadn't, and someone had apparently found her. Although she wasn't fully sure that was true. She did have some vague recollection of being briefly conscious, but couldn't remember what had happened during the short period, or why she'd become unconscious again. Something about something jabbing her in the side?

Taylor was snapped from her thoughts when a rather familiar face walked through the door, coming straight to her. After all, who wouldn't recognize Panacea? Famous healer of New Wave? Why Taylor was important enough to warrant healing, she didn't know-

Damn, Panacea looked tired. Taylor felt a bit guilty. Panacea was putting on a good mask of being awake, and impersonal professionalism, but from a glance she could tell the girl REALLY needed a nap. And some food. Seriously, she looked malnourished. Panacea looked down at Taylor's almost completely healed arm, raised an eyebrow, and then seemed to no longer care, turning to look Taylor in the eye.

"Do I have your permission to heal you?"

"U-uh, yes," Taylor stuttered. Wow, she was really bad at this whole talking to heroes thing.

Panacea either didn't notice, didn't care, or more likely, was used to it. Instead of reacting, she just reached out and grabbed Taylor's hand. Immediately, her bruising faded, and her crushed foot was restored. Her previously shredded hand, was now usable again. There was still a minor throb in her head though.

"Alright, I'm finished. You have a minor concussion, but there's not much I can do about that. Make sure to eat a bit more than you normally would for the next few days. You're free to go as soon as you or your guardian fills out the hospital release forms."

"Thank you," Taylor began, although before she could finish, Panacea was already out the door, and a normal doctor had walked in. Must be a pretty busy day at the hospital…

A loud explosion in the distance reminded her why. Oh yeah, crazy bomb tinker.

"We couldn't reach you father, so you can leave when you want," The Doctor said. For a moment Taylor panicked, until she remembered he'd probably just been at work. "And given how many injured, we don't have the staff to worry about forms. Stay safe, okay?"

* * *

Taylor growled slightly, as another bomb went off in the distance. Eleven days. Eleven days and Bakuda still hadn't been fucking caught. Apparently, she'd also released Lung. And two of the Undersiders had been broken out, although the third… she wasn't sure about. It was like the universe had been conspiring to remove everything she'd accomplished.

She'd tried to help, when she could, but most days her dad didn't really sleep. She'd only been out three times, and the most she'd done was catch a dozen standard members of the ABB, and catch up on information from the Protectorate. And the villains. Who had been surprisingly cooperative, going out of their way to avoid fighting anyone other than the ABB. They'd even put a pause on crimes.

Although, now that Protectorate reinforcements were on their way, that might change. Apparently, there originally weren't going to be any, and Director Piggot had to call in some favors. On top of that, a fair few of the Heroes helping were using their vacation days to do so, and visiting from other cities. Apparently, a preschool had been frozen in time early on, with all of the preschoolers inside. People objected to that.

It was disgusting, and made Taylor glad she hadn't joined the Wards. While the heroes themselves weren't bad, the PRT's policies were horrid. No official help? There were some cities with half a dozen Protectorate members, and a crime rate less than half Brockton Bay's! There were powerful heroes patrolling empty streets, right now!

Hopefully Bakuda would be stopped before her kill count reached the triple digits. And stopped it must be, because apparently they couldn't kill her. There was Intel that Bakuda had a dead man's switch set to blow half the city. And was in the process of building a super bomb.

So despite how weird it was, Taylor was… unsurprised, really, to hear that pretty much every villain's arrest warrant had been put on hold, and that tonight the Protectorate was conducting a raid, which was unofficially going to be a joint raid with the villains. Officially, they were just stumbling across a fight and trying to apprehend the criminals, yet being oddly selective of who to apprehend.

The Protectorate had also 'misplaced' a few radios, strangely broadcasting to the Protectorate channel, which Taylor knew because she had one. Apparently it was official policy to not lend Protectorate equipment to Independents.

Still, as horrifying as it was that official policy would have the PRT continue losing, and civilians continue dying, it was gratifying to know that the Heroes were actually going to step up and do something.

So Taylor waited, in full 'costume', for her dad to fall asleep so she could sneak out via her window. Tonight… she was genuinely looking forward to the raid. She was one of the few capes who didn't have to worry about most of Bakuda's bombs, which had made it all the more painful she'd had to sit out. Of course, she wouldn't voluntarily get hit by them, but she could also actually pursue the Tinker if needed.

Plus, she was probably the only cape who could actually fight Lung. Even if he ramped up, that would just ramp her up in turn. Armsmaster was the only other Hero she knew who could take him, and that was because of bullshit, regeneration nullifying tranquilizers. Fucking Tinkers.

Her father's breathing finally began to steady, so Taylor nimbly leapt out her window and landed, feeling her ankle twist underneath her. She sighed lightly and stabbed her throat. Couldn't have an injured ankle slowing her down, and she hadn't quite gotten the hang of landing properly just yet. But she'd had just enough money to buy an actual knife, rather than the blunt kitchen ones, so it wasn't too much trouble.

She'd originally wanted a gun, but not only were they expensive, but they were also far easier to accidentally kill with. As long as she stuck with certain spots, she could reliably kill herself anyway, so it was really unnecessary. Even the knife was only useful when she had no charge, because she could use a tiny fragment of charge to crack her skull on pretty much anything.

As Taylor caught sight of a few villains and a pair of Heroes waiting for her, she snapped out of her thoughts, and assumed her cape persona instead. Now wasn't the time to ponder how best to kill herself to avoid minor injury. And wow, that was another messed up thing she made a note to never say aloud.

A few of the capes gave her a nod of acknowledgement, as well as one of Coil's mercenaries, who made up the majority of their numbers. There were a good dozen soldiers to five capes. Apparently the Protectorate group had PRT soldiers instead, but it was roughly the same. The only main difference was the loadouts, containment foam versus bullets and Tinker Tech lasers.

And while they were useful, to be honest, the whole group probably equated to about one cape in terms of usefulness. But still, an extra one cape per group was good, definitely better than not having them.

Taylor turned to look at the Heroes. One of them she vaguely recognized as a brute from out of town who'd been on the news recently, though she couldn't for the life of her remember his name. The other was a small time local independent, blaster three. Not sure how much use they'd be, but it was still good to see they were trying. She also caught sight of another Hero in the background… was that Shadow Stalker?

She hadn't thought the Wards were being involved in the actual raid, last she'd heard they were supposed to be patrolling the some of the safer areas so the Protectorate had more maneuverability. It was probably another one of those unofficial things that would be 'punished' after this was over.

The villains, unlike the heroes, looked a bit worse for wear, likely from some of the raids that'd happened a few days ago. Apparently three of the Empire's capes and Skidmark had died, so it had been a pretty big mess up. But on the other hand, Oni Lee had also died, so… while Taylor couldn't really consider it a win, it was still a success.

Sure, the casualties on their side were Nazi's and someone who made the Nazi's look like fine, moral and upstanding citizens in comparison. However, while they might belong in jail, there was a reason they hadn't had a kill order on them, and she had no doubt they would've made things easier had they survived.

Even after losing some members, the Empire was still the main force in the raid, right there with the Protectorate. The groups had been mixed and matched so no one could really betray each other, but every single group had at least two Empire capes. For Taylor's, they were Stormtiger and Cricket, which kind of made sense.

Rune was transporting Othalla for when people got hurt, Kaiser, Fenja and Menja were used to working with each other, and their group had two brutes already, so Hookwolf and Alabaster were best suited elsewhere. Krieg, Crusader and Fog had all died to some of Bakuda's traps, and Purity would be best suited to fly-by artillery strikes when they were needed.

And rounding out their group was Tattletale, for Intel, and Taylor mentally held back from seething. Sure, it was great and all that the Undersiders were helping, but it reminded her that what little she'd accomplished so far had all been thrown out the window. Hopefully, she'd get a chance to at least put Lung back behind bars, and she had no illusions that Bakuda wouldn't follow him.

Every single cape in the city was gunning for her, after all. And now with her building a mega bomb, they were gunning for her not only harder, but _strategically_. Everyone realized, at least subconsciously, that if Bakuda finished that bomb, the ABB would become untouchable. The entire city would be lost to them, and anyone who wanted to run a successful gang would have to relocate.

And the capes _liked_ Brockton Bay, damn it! Sure it was a shithole, but it was THEIR shithole. And it's where they keep their stuff.

"Well, time for us to head out. Don't wanna be late," The Brute called out, lowering his watch and leading the way. The capes begrudgingly followed, and Taylor could tell they didn't like that an out of towner was made leader of their group. Which was fair enough. She didn't like it either, it was a pretty horrible tactical decision, but luckily they seemed to know where they were going.

Were they a Brute/Thinker combo or something? Hopefully. Taylor REALLY didn't want to have to rely on Tattletale for information during the fight. While she doubted the villain would screw her over, especially considering she was basically invincible AND new her face, she also had no doubt that Tattletale would mess with her. Not in a particularly malicious way, but still.

She'd had enough being messed with for one lifetime during school hours, and didn't really want to have to cope with it while being a cape, too.

* * *

 ***IMPORTANT***

 **The story is going to be on Hiatus for like, a fortnight. I'm escaping the Simurgh Quarantine zone around Canberra, to visit some relatives for a few days. If I were to use a computer, the authorities would track me down.**

 **Now a lot of you are probably thinking, 'Won't the PRT stop you leaving?'**

 **But HAH! Australia has no PRT, and no capes are on duty! That's right, the police force who are Quarantined inside, are the ones enforcing the Quarantine! Irony!**

 **In other news, I apologize that this chapter was a bit lackluster. I was planning to establish the stuff above faster, but there were a lot of things I had to address for set up purposes.**

 **As always, any questions and comments are welcome.**


	8. Run at me! No? Fine, I'll run at YOU!

**Sorry for the delay in this chapter. Disappointingly, I'm going away again in two days, so there'll be another brake. To make up for this... extra long chapter!**

 **Disclaimer: If I were Wildbow, that would mean I'm a good writer.**

 **EDIT: Ugh, sorry, had trouble with tenses again. Thanks for pointing it out. Fixed a few grammar mistakes, and I'll probably fix a few more later.**

* * *

Disappointingly, the safe house they hit didn't have Lung or Bakuda. Well, actually, that was probably for the best, as it put their team at less risk. Still, there was nothing but a few dozen high ranking ABB thugs. Most of them died before she could get to them, as Stormtiger and Cricket literally mowed them down. The last few were successfully apprehended, and their 'leader' called for a PRT van to pick them up.

Taylor wasn't really comfortable with the ABB members dying, and from the looks of things the other heroes weren't either, but they really didn't have a choice. This needed to be done quickly. Even now, she could hear dozens of bombs detonating, and a burst of fire shot into the sky.

"Right, good work everyone!" The Brute called out, as the rest of their team filed in. "If you're good to keep going, we can go help the other teams. Apparently, Kaiser's group ran into Lung, and they've been fighting for a while now, and they're pretty hurt. The protectorate seems to have Bakuda on lockdown, but Grue's team is heading over to help them.

"Faultine's team got hit by a few bombs set as a trap, so they're out of the fight for now and being mended by Othalla, bar Hookwolf, who's on his way to help Kaiser. Luckily, Trickster managed to prevent any casualties. Our job is to help with Lung. If you don't think you're up to it, no one will think any less of you. But choose quickly, we need to move."

There was a burst of fire, which was met with a beam of blinding light, as Purity did her first strafe on Lung. The Brute started running in that direction, quickly followed by the capes, although Coil's soldiers stayed behind to guard the surviving ABB.

There was an inhuman roar in the distance as another beam of white lanced out. Probably for the best, from the sounds of things even Tinkertech guns wouldn't do crap to Lung. Purity was ramping him up too quickly, in exchange for buying some time. A dangerous gamble. Taylor picked up the pace to a full out sprint. Behind her, Cricket was quickly gaining, Stormtiger was propelling himself with the winds, and Shadow Stalker was leaping from rooftop to rooftop.

The other three quickly fell behind, but that was to be expected, as they didn't have mover ratings. As it was, Taylor was stabbing herself every ten or so seconds, just to maintain her speed.

As they rounded the corner, they were met with a wave of fire, from a twelve foot tall Lung. Not that it was aimed at them. Everything was just burning. Lung leapt at the downed form Taylor recognised as Kaiser, but a blade of metal shot out to meet him, and Lung leaned under it, stopping and leaping back as more shot after him from all directions.

He could probably take the blades, but she probably wouldn't risk it, either. There was another beam of light, knocking Lung down onto one of Kaiser's blades, and he roared even as he grew further, the wings behind him starting to grow. Soon, he would be airborne. As it was, he jumped about twenty meters into the air to try and swat at Purity, who desperately flew away.

"Help your teammates!" Taylor called to Cricket and Stormtiger, running at Lung as he landed, barely maintaining her balance as his landing shook the ground. Lung's head cracked towards her. Right, super hearing, she'd forgotten.

Lung let out a snarl that sounded vaguely like a word, sending a fireball at Kaiser before dashing to meet her. Was he still pissed because she beat him? Apparently.

Still, she didn't slow or hesitate, running straight at him, although she might as well not have bothered, given how quickly Lung was moving. Just before Lung reached her, something shot out and hit him in the eye. Lung bellowed and flinched, his distraction lasting just long enough for Taylor to punch him in the knee with the roughly three percent charge she'd accumulated.

There was a loud shattering noise, as Lung's knee bent the wrong way, and he began toppling, only to catch himself with his fist and remove her torso and most of her legs with a sweeping kick. Oww… Still, the pain only lasted a second, and Taylor regained almost as much charge as she'd just spent, although Lung's leg had already healed.

Right, that wasn't working, she'd need to gather more charge. Thankfully, her presence didn't seem to have accelerated Lung's growth, although he was still growing. Lung flipped back to his feet and crushed her to the pavement. Five percent. Taylor retaliated with a blow with no charge, and was immediately grateful as Lung dashed out of the way, pulverising her a third time.

Another bolt of darkness shot out, and embedded itself the entire way through Lung's head. Lung bellowed again, and tore out the offending object, but this time she could actually make out what it was. It was a crossbow bolt, and most definitely not a tranquiliser, which, from what little she knew, Shadow Stalker shouldn't have access to.

Still, she was rather thankful for the assistance. Even if it didn't do much damage, it still gave Taylor the chance to re centre herself. About seven percent charge. Ten would probably do, but Taylor decided to go for fifteen on her next blow, to be safe. So she dashed forward, but was cut off and flung to the side by Lung's tail.

Lung started doing what looked like dance moves around a few more of Kaiser's blades. Taylor spared a glance at the man. He was heavily wounded, and had a hand thrust out to the fight even as Stormtiger was carrying him off. Lung went to lunge after his fleeing opponent, but was cut off by a spearhead almost as big as he was, from Fenja or Menja. She wasn't sure which.

The blow knocked him back a few feet, but only did superficial damage, and Lung unfurled his wings. Damn, the fight just got that much harder. Before he could get much further, the Giantess grabbed him and flung him towards the ground, although he caught himself and dashed at her, quickly doing massive damage, before being interrupted by Purity.

The Giantess began shrinking, likely out of the fight, as another blast from Purity pushed Lung further back, right towards her. Taylor jumped to her feet, and kicked off the wall she'd been rammed into, using a bit of charge to bring herself to Lung's head height. She raised her fist back to punch the Dragon, but Lung apparently noticed her, because he spun out of the way, his long neck curling around and snapping off her head.

Twelve percent… that would have to do. Lung needed to go down, and fast.

Taylor started towards the Dragon, who met her with a fist even as she tapped her radio.

"Purity! Don't hold back on my account, I'll be fine!" Taylor shouted into the mic, as she barely dodged Lung's fist, and leaped forward, trying to retaliate. Once again, Lung swivelled out of the way. Damn, he was getting too fast for her to deal with. Lung lunged back at her, although was cut off by a bright beam of light, which consumed them both.

OWWWWWWWW FUCK FUCK FUCK THAT HURT! Taylor staggered to retain her balance as the light faded, having reset over a dozen times, and saw Lung wasn't much better off, half of one of his arms missing, and both of his legs gone beneath the knee. Although they quickly grew back.

A bolt of black shot forward and hit Lung while he was stationary, burying itself into his chest. Lung barely noticed, although his growth began to slow a bit. Which was both good and bad, good because his power no longer registered Shadow Stalker as a threat, bad because Shadow Stalker was no longer hurting him.

As Lung started getting back to his feet, Taylor leapt towards him and punched him with all she had in the face, almost a quarter of her max charge. His head, his neck, and most of his chest exploded violently, sending Lung back to the ground, although much to her dismay, immediately began growing back. Three bolts in quick succession rammed into him, and Purity hit him with another beam, but Lung got back to his feet.

Although… did he seem a bit smaller than he had been? He wings were certainly less pronounced. Still, he took to the air and began chasing Purity. Apparently he'd decided she needed to be taken down first, which was probably true. Another beam hit him at the start of his leap, also shredding half of Taylor's body, but that barely slowed him down as his wings began beating.

Damn, Purity was having trouble evading him, and no one else could really help.

Taylor heard footsteps and spun around, to see the rest of her team, Ballistic and Regent arrive. The two of them had been on Kaiser's team, if she recalled. Regent made Lung twitch slightly, missing a blow that otherwise would've killed Purity, and maintained a careful watch. The blaster… Pelter? and Ballistic began flinging as many pebbles at him as they could, as fast as they could, although if they were hitting, Taylor couldn't tell.

Tattletale, still with her trademark smirk, quickly stopped them. "We need as few people in combat with Lung as possible. Renewal doesn't trigger his growth beyond a certain point, so if we can make it just the two of them, he should begin to reverse."

Huh… that would certainly help. Hopefully it worked, but at the very least, it would stop Lung growing any more.

"Renewal, you can draw his attention again by jumping up and attacking him. I know you can't stay in the air long, but if Purity leaves he'll focus on you."

Taylor nodded. "Right, I'll need you guys to hit me with everything you've got."

After a short moment's hesitation, they complied, although she was charging painfully slowly in comparison to what she had been. Taylor held up a hand and they stopped, nine percent would have to do. She reached up and tapped her radio. "Purity, fly Lung by me if you can, then leave when I distract him."

Thankfully, Purity seemed to hear, and almost immediately began shooting towards her, Lung in hot pursuit. Taylor began dashing forwards, as the other capes all ran away. Within a few seconds, Purity had flow past, and Taylor braced her legs.

She hadn't done this nearly to this extend before, but she shoved her charge into her legs, kicking up. The ground shattered beneath her, and she shot forward, colliding with Lung. And Splattering against his scales due to her velocity, but that wasn't the point. Even if her hitting him had about the same effect as a dog charging a moving car, it still got his attention.

With barely any pause, Lung switched targets, grabbing her and pile driving her into the ground, forming yet another small crater with the impact. It hurt almost as much as Purity's beams… which was to say, it felt like running her body under boiling water. She heard a feminine scream from nearby.

Still, Taylor got back up… or tried to at least, as Lung kicked her back into paste. Again and again, seeming to grow only more and more annoyed as she kept getting back up. Although his blows were carrying just a bit less punch than they had previously, so it was working. Taylor kicked him off her, and used the few second's delay to take stock of her surroundings.

The nearby buildings had all collapsed, and the handful of ABB she could see were most certainly dead. Everyone else had left, bar Tattletale and the out of town Brute, who was pulling…

Oh, gods. Taylor almost retched. The Brute was pulling Tattletale off of one of Kaiser's remaining blades. Even from here, Taylor could see that there was a lot of blood, and one of Tattletale's eyes had abandoned ship, although from the half whimper, half screams, the villain was still both alive and conscious. She felt a shred of sympathy for the girl...

Before she could think further, she heard Lung bellow out a long, challenging roar, and lunge at her again, coated entirely in fire. Taylor yanked out her knife, ducking under his punch, and testing something. She knew she could use her charge on her body parts, but she did have to wonder if she could transfer it to objects.

When her knife went through Lung's arm like butter, causing him to howl in pain, she decided that was a good enough answer. Still, the euphoric feeling of her minor victory was cut short when she was, again, ground to paste by Lung. Although, this time, the blow was noticeably weaker, and Lung seemed almost a foot shorter.

He was still almost twice her height, so it didn't change too much, but him being back to how he was when she'd arrived, AKA unable to fly, was a definite success in her books.

Taylor ducked under a roundhouse kick from Lung, and sliced off his leg at the knee. Sure, his arm was already fully grown back, but it still visibly hurt him. Lung lost his balance, although fell directly onto her, so it might have been intentional.

Taylor found herself about two feet to the left of where she'd last been, so quickly stabbed down at Lung's chest while he was down, although she only just had enough charge to pierce his scales. Lung swatted her from the side, his arm going straight through her, and Taylor bit back a curse, yanking her knife out of him and taking half a step back.

"'y… on' ooo I?" Lung growled out illegible, even before you took into account the slurring from his anger, but Taylor could guess what it meant.

"Said the pot, to the kettle," Taylor replied with a smirk. Yeah, she needed to take classes on trash talk. And on using knives, now that she thought about it. As it was, she was just flailing the blade around, she could probably do a lot more damage if she knew how to use it. But that, she decided, could wait until she wasn't busy with a rage dragon, who was running at her.

Taylor saw his leg muscles tensing slight more than necessary, and ducked. A kick skimmed over her head, and she dashing forward, slashing at Lung's chest. The blade went all the way in, up to the handle, and slashed a foot long gauge before Lung flung her off into the ground. She skidded to a stand, only for Lung to once again crush her into paste.

Taylor kicked his hand before he could pull it back, and it cracked loudly, being blown from the rest of his arm. Lung howled, and the hand began regenerating, substantially slower than it had been earlier. Lung swung at her, and Taylor let it hit her, so she could build up some more charge. Lung was about ten feet tall and slowly decreasing, so she should be able to take him down soon.

Instead, another bolt of darkness hit Lung, causing him to flinch and lose just enough velocity that Taylor was sent flying instead. Why was Shadow Stalker still here? Lung's transformation seemed to steady now that there was another opponent, but he didn't seem to be growing. Another two bolts shot at him, and Lung only dodged one. The other buried itself in his arm, and he began shrinking again.

The missed bolt landed nearby enough that she could make it out. It seemed Shadow Stalker had switched to Tranquilisers. Oh… probably the same kind Armsmaster had used the first time. Due to Shadow Stalker's power, no matter how much Lung ramped up she could still get it into his blood stream. That was clever. While it wouldn't take him down at the height he was at, it would make the fight a lot easier.

Lung was looking around for the Ward, so Taylor began running forward, past one of the dead ABB members. His eyes shot towards her, and he braced himself to run at her, only for Taylor to feel her body violently explode.

When she found herself almost twenty meters away from where she'd just been, she was shocked, and so, apparently, was Lung. The area she'd been standing in, well… Apparently, gravity wasn't a thing there anymore, because parts of the street were mid-air, other bits were in fragments, and some had straight up bent.

It looked like a combination of Vista's power and a shrapnel bomb. Another bomb went off next to Lung, and he barely dived out of range in time. The area he'd been standing in, was just… gone. No remains left, a perfect sphere removed. Definitely the work of Bakuda, and apparently Lung had realised that too, because he seemed pissed.

Bombs started going off in the city at a pace much faster than they had been, and a handful more of the ABB corpses detonated… wait, she'd put bombs in _her own people?_ That was fucked up, even by Bakuda's standards. Apparently, the Protectorate didn't have as good a handle on her as they thought, because she seemed to be indiscriminately detonating EVERYTHING.

Lung glared at Taylor, yet seemed strangely hesitant, and Taylor felt the same way. She could tell that both of them wanted to go after Bakuda, and that neither of them wanted to back down.

After a moment, the bombs stopped completely, and another bolt shot forward and nailed Lung in the eye. Apparently that signified the continuation of the fight, although it didn't last long. Lung was about eight and a half feet tall and shrinking from the tranquiliser darts. Taylor used half of her charge to put herself between Lung and Shadow Stalker, and the other half to put Lung down. His head was partially removed, but he collapsed to the ground, even as he started regenerating.

Still, he was down for the count. After he'd regenerated all the life threatening injuries, Shadow Stalker pulled out a dozen of the bolts, walked up to him, and jabbed him with all of them. Probably overkill, but Taylor couldn't really fault her. Shadow Stalker nodded to Taylor, then took off.

Taylor tapped her radio. "Lung's down and tranquilised, can anyone send pickup to my location?"

After stating where she was, within seconds Velocity was besides her. Damn that was creepy.

"Good work," He said simply, grabbing Lung and dashing off.

Taylor turned and began running in the direction she'd seen her teammates go. Or, some of them, at least. Cricket and Stormtiger were nowhere to be seen, nor was Regent. Pelter was leaning against a wall, bleeding heavily. The out of town Brute… judging from the fabric on the ground, if she had to guess, she would say was smeared over the pavement.

"Rest in peace, Frenetic," Pelter muttered sadly, sniffling. Ah, so that was his name… kind of ironically tragic, that the only reason she'd found that out was because he'd died.

Ballistic was sitting against a wall, looking respectfully glum. Tattletale…

Was a glass statue. She felt a throb of pain. Two people had violently died, for seemingly no reason. Fucking Bakuda.

Then, Taylor had a thought and moved towards Tattletale. It was a hopeful though, a desperate one. She might not like the girl, but she didn't deserve death. Taylor took care not to look at her face, as Tattletale's mask was on the ground, just outside of the glassed zone.

Taylor new her power didn't work on other people. She'd tried it one a few living creatures before, and that wasn't how it worked. But… Tattletale was technically an object right now. So maybe…

She reached out and lay her hand on Tattletale's glass one, and stabbed herself in the heart with her knife, quickly pulling it out.

She felt herself reset, and her a gasp of pain, which sounded just like Tattletale. A thrill of joy ran through her, until she caught a glimpse of Tattletale's face, whereupon the joy drained out of her, and she almost threw up.

Tattletale was healed, alright, and seemed just as shocked as Taylor. But, where her eye had been removed, there had been a large gash leading down to her chin. Instead of a hole, however, Tattletale's gash and eye, had been replaced with a glass replica. When Taylor had seen her face, she'd looked right through Tattletale's eye, to the back part, which was made of flesh.

Human bodies, she decided, were absolutely disgusting. She never wanted to see the inner workings of an eye again.

* * *

 **By the by, I did some minor edits to most chapters, so a few inconsistencies were removed. Probably not enough to bother rereading, but just a heads up that a few things have changed, such as chapter two's first person problem.**


	9. Reflections

**So... hehe, yeah. Not much really happens in this chapter... *Dodges brick* Sorry about that. Once again, my mind started going some really dark places, and I spent a lot of time trying to find a way to make it light again. The good news is, I'm about a quarter of the way through each of the next five chapters! The bad news is, that's because I had to remove things from this chapter, and re-purpose them to a time where they wouldn't be really depressing!**

 **So yeah. Sorry this chapter's uneventful.**

 **Disclaimer: I'm still not Wildbow... [The Device] Isn't working!**

* * *

Tattletale blinked, with her glass eyelid. Which was gross. Seriously, where did that glass even come from? THAT EYE HAD BEEN MISSING! Powers were weird. Taylor snapped herself from her thoughts when she heard gasps from behind her, as the others registered what'd happened. Tattletale poked herself in the face, seemingly in shock, and trying to confirm it as being real.

"What the hell?" Pelter declared loudly. She seemed frightened, which was probably fair. Taylor was still a bit frightened herself.

She knew, logically, her power wouldn't work on Frenetic. It working on Tattletale's glass form had been unlikely, but even as a corpse, Frenetic was still human, rather than an object. Still, Taylor would hate herself forever if she didn't at least try, so she walked over to the largest chunk that remained, firmly ignoring what her group was saying.

It took her a few seconds to build up her courage, but she finally touched the body. Gods, that was gross… Taylor desperately ignored the smell… and the feel, and the fact that Frenetic was smeared all around her.

She hesitatingly dragged her dagger up to her chest again, and after a second, plunged it in, quickly yanking it out.

A spurt of blood shot from the piece of the corpse, coating her mask. Taylor almost fell to a knee, and brought her relatively clean hand up to her face, shoving it under her mask and biting on her fingers, hard, to stop herself screaming or throwing up.

Nothing… Frenetic was still smeared. Taylor quickly removed her hand from the corpse and shut her eyes, staggering away, and trying to get rid of the image even as it burned itself into her mind. After a dozen steps and a few, shaky breaths, she removed her hand, straightened her mask, and trusted herself to speak again.

She tilted her head back towards the Hero, just enough that she still couldn't see his body.

"I'm sorry," She muttered. Gods, how did police officers or PRT soldiers deal with things like this? She hadn't minded nearly as much from a distance, but having to get up close and personal with bodies…she shuddered. Tattletale's half flesh, half see-through eye didn't even come close to comparing. Did everyone have this kind of reaction, or was it just because the body was so gruesome?

Either way, it gave her a new sense of respect for the unpowered law enforcement. Even without taking into account that when they went after people, there was a very real chance they could be a cape, and violently murder them.

One of the other capes mumbled something, but she didn't actually hear what they said, because her earpiece went off, although why anyone would be wanting to talk to her privately, she didn't know. A quick glance at the others indicated they weren't receiving similar calls, so it probably wasn't to ask for the ear piece back.

"Excuse me for a second," Taylor said quietly to the other capes, before kicking off with her small fragment of charge to gain some distance, and answering the call even as she moved to get out of hearing range. It would be rude to not at least try to uphold her mysterious caller's wants. And if she was running upwind of the body, well that was just a happy coincidence.

"Hello?" She asked calmly.

"Renewal, this is Armsmaster. Are you okay?"

Armsmaster? Why the hell would he be calling her? Seriously, he _had_ to have more important things to do.

"Uh, yeah… just a bit shaken. How'd things go for the Protectorate?"

"A few close shaves, but no serious injuries, luckily. I heard you weren't quite as lucky… I'm sorry. If you need to talk about it, I'll have an ear open for you. Do you still have my card?"

"…Oh! Uh, yeah!" She'd completely forgotten about that.

"Then in a few days, once things have calmed down, call me if you wanna talk. But for now, I need to cut to the chase, and ask you a favour. We might have gotten Bakuda, but she still has bombs all over the city. Dragon was analysing one of them, and while she's barely had a glance, she can already tell they've got a remote detonator. While I'd like to think Bakuda doesn't have access to it…"

"It'd be a mistake not to expect she does. Better safe than dead," Taylor finished. "But what does this have to do with me? I'm no Tinker."

"We're keeping Bakuda tranqued, but theoretically, if she were to wake up for a single moment, she could wreak havoc. I assume you saw how quickly she was detonating her bombs after she realised we were after her? Even a single bomb would be catastrophic, and she'd probably get off a few dozen before we could tranq her again. Time's of the essence, but it's also extremely dangerous for the people disarming the bombs. Normally, we'd take our time and set up remote controlled arms for us to pilot, but as it stands we can't take that risk.

"Which is where you come in. Most of the bombs, the risk is pretty low, and some of them are flat out non lethal. But for some of the more unstable ones… I was hoping me and Dragon could talk you through the process. If worst comes to worst, that's a bit of property damage, rather than a dead body.

"Please, don't feel pressured to accept. As it stands, we're already moving the more dangerous bombs to areas where they'll do basically no damage, and in a few weeks, a month, tops, we could get the equipment to disarm them ourselves. But if you have time you can safely spare, well… we'd, no, I would rather not leave incredibly volatile explosives lying around armed. All it would take is a mixed up order, and someone might be present when they went off. There's an idiot in every crowd."

Her? Disarming bombs? Even with two of the greatest Tinkers on the planet talking her through it, it still sounded surreal. Still… _Armsmaster_ wanted her help with technology! That was any cape geek's dream! Plus, she'd feel guilty if someone gets caught in one of the bombs."

Taylor felt guilty about Frenetic... and she hadn't been even slightly involved in the actions that lead to his death. So far, she'd been immune to Bakuda's bombs, so it was a slight inconvenience for her, versus a life threatening situation for some poor member of the bomb squad. Or Armsmaster. From the sounds of things, he'd probably be disarming a few of the bombs himself. If someone died because she didn't want the inconvenience...

Plus, conscience aside, it would save lots of time and effort if she did it. Rather than Armsmaster having to build stuff to deal with the problem, she could take care of it right away.

Armsmaster cleared his throat. "Do you copy?"

Oh, right, she'd forgotten he'd been waiting for a reply.

"I copy. It should be fine, I'll just have to work something out timewise. Maybe his afternoon? If you're ready for me, that is."

Armsmaster grunted. "Should be fine, let me know once you've got a finalized time. And… thanks, both for Lung and for this. You're doing good, Hero. Armsmaster out."

Taylor barely held in her squeal long enough to hang up. That was the second time one of her childhood Heroes had praised her, and it felt better than the first.

She began walking back to her group, but decided against it. Officially they were supposed to debrief with each other, but it wasn't really necessary, or even feasible. Within an hour or two, the villains would inevitably committing crimes, despite the fact that it was nearly midnight. Of course, hopefully they'd give a day's peace as respect for the dead, but she kind of doubted it. They'd already missed half a week's crimes, they'd be starting back up as soon as they could.

After all, it was their key revenue.

Taylor sighed as her body began shaking, the wave of adrenalin having passed. If she had common sense, she'd just cut herself… okay, wow, another thing on her list of things to never say. It wasn't like she was cutting herself because she wanted pain, she just wanted to die, and damn that did not sound _any_ better.

Right, TWO more things on her list of what to never say, under any circumstances ever.

If she reset, she'd be fine, and a lot more focused, but… she didn't necessarily want to be. All that would mean is sharper memories, and time going a lot slower. And not being able to sleep. She'd figured that out a few days ago, instead of sleeping, or eating, or practically anything required for maintaining health, she could just substitute suicide.

…Damn, that sounded as bad as the other two things. Then again, Taylor supposed it was hard to not sound like that, when talking about a power that relied on the user repeatedly dying.

Still… she needed to figure out SOME way of explaining her power that was relatively P.G.

She sighed. That wasn't important right now, and she was just trying to distract herself. Perhaps sleep would be for the best, and she probably wasn't the only one not really feeling sociable, all things considered. Hopefully, none of the other groups suffered casualties.

Taylor yanked out her knife, and stabbed herself in the chest, her thoughts immediately clearing and her eyesight sharpening. Yeah, sleep be damned, she really needed to break out from the pessimistic thought loop. Worst comes to worst, she could just practice with her knife all night, or exercise. Although she suspected she was reaching a soft cap in the way of exercise. If she wanted to improve much further, she'd need some pretty heavy weights.

Besides, while chin-ups had been fun at first, they were kind of boring now that she could do them easily. Taylor wasn't fully sure why she was still training, given that her charge more than made up for it, but since she'd begun obsessively exercising, she'd felt… lighter, more energetic. She'd been happier, and she couldn't attribute it to school not being hell any more, as even before she started messing with Sophia, she'd actually been able to genuinely smile again.

Gods, how she'd missed the feeling. She'd even found herself skipping and humming one morning, when she was supposed to be jogging! Of course, now it was far less 'jogging' and far more 'sprinting'. Even without resetting, she could probably give the Winslow track team a run for their money.

Hahaha, she made a joke.

Not that she had any intention of actually joining the track team… although it would give her more opportunities to mess with Sophia, once school got back. It'd probably really piss her off, although Parahumans weren't officially allowed in sports clubs. Still, it's not like they would check, even in good schools, namely any school that wasn't Winslow.

Seriously, they day before Bakuda's attack, a student wearing gang colours had been showing off his new knife to his friends. In class. Directly in front of a teacher.

It was _really_ telling that brandishing a knife wasn't considered an act of aggression. Sure, the student had been given detention, but seriously? They hadn't even confiscated the knife.

Back on track though, it'd probably out her if she was suddenly the number one runner, despite having been pretty slow and unskilled at running a few weeks ago. People had noticed she'd become a bit more build, although her muscles weren't exactly prominent.

Perhaps in a few weeks, after school had actually started back up, she'd consider it. Plus, an extracurricular activity would be a great excuse for when she wanted to go out Hero-ing. Her dad had been expressing his concerns about her late night 'runs'. Well, at least she wasn't technically lying. She did run during them. Of course, the last two weeks she hadn't been on any, which she supposed was fair.

No one sensible would be willing to let someone run around while bombs went off seemingly at random. Despite the fact that she was just as likely to be bombed at home, it was a reassuring thing to have your loved ones in eyesight.

She briefly considered telling her dad she was a Parahuman, but her heart fell as she dismissed it, for the same reasons she had previously.

Her dad would worry too much, needlessly restrict her actions, and likely out her by trying to force her into the Wards. She understood his concern for her, mainly because she was similarly concerned for him, but it was still a bad idea.

But she was getting distracted again. Taylor stabbed herself in the heart again to clear her thoughts, before beginning to make her way home at a light sprint.

* * *

 **Fun fact: wanted to correct 'Armsmaster' to 'StairMaster'. I have no clue why, just thought I'd stair.**

 **Hehe... *Dodges Brick* I'M SORRY! I KNOW IT WAS A STUPID PUN!**


	10. Lis(a)ten to me

**So! Here we are. Once again, not much action, and that'll stay for a few chapters, but afterwards I'll be making up for it. Hope you enjoy!**

* * *

As Lung took to the air, Lisa and the rest of her group rounded the corner. Which, she knew, was probably a good thing… Lung really disliked her and her teammates, even now. Although it might not have made much difference, because most of the street had been torn to pieces, there had been a few shockwaves, and Lung was currently flying after Purity.

Renewal cocked her head back to the group, one foot up on a bit of bent cement and adopting a pose that wouldn't have looked place in an action movie.

 _Pose not intentional; Isn't aware of how she's standing._

Her power helpfully informed her, which was a bit disappointing. Especially how much havoc she'd clearly wreaked; many of the holes in the pavement, Lung was still too small to make.

Besides her, Ballistic and Pelter began throwing their respective projectiles at Lung, and Tattletale didn't need her power to tell they were doing more harm than good. With a sudden burst of speed, Lung almost killed Purity, but Regent made him miss with a tiny flinch, and was watching the fight with uncharacteristic intensity.

The blasters kept firing, so she held up a hand to stop them as Renewal began to open her mouth to do the same.

 _Confident in her ability to beat Lung, wants to fight him alone. Not for glory, believes it to be safer. Is correct that it is safer. Renewal doesn't trigger Lung's growth. Renewal can ground Lung. Favourite colour is pu-_

Tattletale cut off her power, with a slight grimace. She'd used it quite a bit tonight, and would have a headache for a few days afterwards.

She turned to her teammates. "We need as few people in combat with Lung as possible. Renewal doesn't trigger his growth beyond a certain point, so if we can make it just the two of them, he should begin to reverse."

That wasn't one of her finer speeches, and lacked any hidden meanings or wordplay, but sue her. She was distracted.

Renewal seemed grateful, and the Blasters immediately stopped, although Regent through Lung off balance again to stop him killing Purity.

 _Power impedes thought processes; makes extremely easy to anger._

Well, that was useful.

"Renewal, you can draw his attention again by jumping up and attacking him. I know you can't stay in the air long, but if Purity leaves he'll focus on you."

Without hesitation, she nodded. "Right, I'll need you guys to hit me with everything you've got."

 _Power requires she take significant damage. Weak to nonlethal takedowns._

Hmm… also very useful information. She made a note of it mentally, and smirked. That would explain why she'd won the fights she'd been in so far. Renewal had fought exclusively people who were trying to kill her.

The blasters seemed hesitant, but complied with her request and began hitting her as quickly as they could with their shots. Renewal shifted her balance so she would remain standing, and otherwise seemed unaffected, as the injuries vanished almost instantly. Damn, was the trigger for damage that low?

 _Baseline human toughness._

Ah… that was it. Not particularly a trouble for her, Grue or Regent, but would be a challenge for most other villainous capes. They were used to fighting for keeps, rather than to disable.

After a second, Renewal held up a hand and the blasters stopped firing, even as she lifted the hand to tap her radio.

"Purity, fly Lung by me if you can, then leave when I distract him."

 _Values all other lives above her own._

Wow, she really had the Hero mindset down.

 _Doesn't feel any concern for her own life._

That was more concerning.

 _Immune to almost all forms of attack that would be lethal, can recover qui-_

Tattletale cut her power off, as another spike of pain shot through her head. It was fairly useful, but not really, so there was no point subjecting herself to the Thinker headache to end all Thinker headaches. Especially considering that she and Renewal would almost certainly meet again.

Purity shot by in a flash of dazzling light, and Tattletale and the rest of the capes flinched. Renewal, on the other hand, just tensed and _leapt_ , shattering the concrete beneath her and knocking her off balance.

"Right, time for us to leave," Frenetic called out, and they all began sprinting in the other direction. Getting caught in a fight between two brutes was always a stupid idea, even if you were a brute yourself.

Lisa shot a glance over her shoulder, just in time to see Renewal splatter against Lung from the force of her own momentum. Gods, that was disgusting. But a flash later, and Renewal was next to Lung, who had stopped and was focusing solely on her, hate in his eyes.

Lisa turned back to the watch where she was going, and was completely unsurprised to see all of the team bar Frenetic and Regent had already ran twice as far as her. Although Regent did surprise her by actually running, rather than just a jog. He was usually too lazy. She knew Frenetic was staying with her just in case, for which she was almost touched. He really was a good choice in leader, because he was compassionate and cared for others. Plus, as a Hero, he was relatively trustworthy.

Up ahead, there were a few remnants of Lung's fight with Kaiser, and Lisa couldn't help but wonder how long the metal blades would remain. Was there a time limit, were they permanent?

Even as her power began to supply her with the answer, there was an ear shattering shriek, and Lisa felt her feet leave the ground, as she was flung forwards by the force of the blow. She'd been almost a hundred metres away, and was still a part of the fight. Fucking Brutes.

Then Lisa felt something dig into her eye, and shrieked in pain. It felt like someone had driven a red hot spike through half of her face, and oh god _oh god make it stop!_

She twitched, trying to remove whatever it was in her face, but was stopped and held firmly in place by hands on her shoulder.

"Hey, stay calm, I'll get you off there," A voice said quietly, belonging to… Frenetic, yeah, that was it.

Lisa grit her teeth and clamped down on her screams, trying to remain as still as possible through the unbearable agony.

"On three. One," The hands yanked her back, and Lisa felt another spike of pain, almost as bad as the last, as she felt a part of her not go with the rest of her body. She whimpered, and screamed.

She felt one of the arms apply pressure to where it hurt most, and while the pressure hurt, it was a bearable, and lessened the pain on the rest of her face. Frenetic whispered soothing things, even as he picked her up and began flat out running.

The bumping up and down from the running was agony, and Lisa barely remained conscious, which Frenetic was insisting she did. Although the pain seemed to have stopped… she giggled lightly, feeling a bit dizzy. Even in her addled mind, she recognised that as a symptom of blood loss, which probably wasn't good.

There was a loud roar in the distance, even as the arms gently put her down on the ground. No, come back arms! You were comfortable, and a lot easier to sleep on than the pavement!

The hand left her face, and after a few seconds of the air stinging, was replaced by a soft fabric. Tattletale spared a glance, as painful as it was to open her eyes, and saw it was a part of Frenetic's costume. Aw, that was sweet!

He was trying to tie the fabric over one side of her face, although he somehow wasn't impeding her vision, which was impressive. Or maybe that eye was shut. She couldn't really tell, she was a bit out of it.

There were a few explosions in the distance, and a soothing beep from nearby.

 _The beeping was a bomb being armed._

Her headache got worse, but that wasn't quite as pressing to her. Never mind, the beeping wasn't soothing.

Frenetic had already half turned towards the beeping, but visible cut off his instinct. He picked her up, and flung her as far as she could, even as he began sprinting after her. Lisa had to resist the urge to squeal as she began flying for the second time that night, but decided that, as it was painful, she wouldn't, instead looking back at Frenetic.

 _Believed he could only save one of us; knew throwing me would slow him long enough for the bomb to hit him. Believes it's his responsibility as leader to take the hit. Would've taken the hit anyway._

Her power supplied. Aw, c'mon Frenetic, you can outrace the bomb!

Lisa was proved drastically wrong as there was a tick, and Frenetic was no longer standing up. Instead, it looked like he'd been run over by a train. Multiple times. It was a bit disgusting, but Tattletale was too distracted by a wave of searing pain as she hit the ground to really care. There was more beeping near her as she stood up.

Which meant another bomb. It was sort of ironic, in a way, and she was at least glad Frenetic was too dead to notice his sacrifice had meant nothing.

Tattletale turned away from the beeping, and began staggering away from the bomb, even as it went off, and she felt a wave of… something flow over her, and everything went da-

Her eyes shot open. Her headache was completely gone, she was no longer dizzy, and she could see and think unimpaired again. Which was odd, because that wasn't the kind of thing Bakuda would have one of her bombs do.

In front of her was Renewal, who dropped to the ground and began making retching noises. Which was a bit insulting, really. She wasn't that ugly.

She felt something blocking her vision a bit, so she blinked, and it was thankfully gone. Which was when she remembered that she'd just been hit by a bomb.

She poked herself in the face, and found a bit of glass running through over her face. So that's what the bomb had done. It also served as a reminder that she had straight up died, which she was feeling surprisingly calm about. She was probably in shock. Noticing her mask lying on the ground, she bent down and slid it on.

"What the hell?" Pelter screeched. Regent and Ballistic's eyes shot up.

"Hey Tatts," Regent said calmly, belaying the slight feeling of relief she could see in his posture, and replacing it with an annoying nickname. "N-eye-ce to see you again. What's up?"

He'd emphasised that just enough that she'd immediately gotten it was a jab. Ah, that's right… she'd lost her eye, which had been the reason behind her bloodloss. Wow, that had been painful. Lisa tried not to flinch at the memory, even as her eyes fell to the ground slightly.

Or, well, eye. Actually, everything still seemed three dimensional, and as she reached out and poked the ground, she didn't have any trouble picking up a small piece of cement. Which meant she could still perceive three dimensions, and thus had both eyes. Which was definitely weird.

"Your penis. I'd say it's nice to see you too, but I'm too busy desperately avoiding looking at your ugly mug," Tattletale replied. "I'd say get surgery, but at this stage it might be better to just take it off at the neck."

"Fuck you too," Regent said with a grin wide enough she could see it through his mask.

"When and where?" She replied jokingly.

Ballistic scowled heavily, although Pelter didn't seem to notice the banter.

Renewal had walked over to Frenetic's corpse, and was trying to gather her courage.

"Y-you… can you bring him back?" Pelter asked, nervously and hopefully.

 _Power is Manton-limited. Doesn't work on corpses. Renewal knows this, but believes she has to try. Pelter has a crush on Frenetic._

Wait… then how had Lisa been revived?

 _Glass statues not considered sentient by Renewal's power. Items reset to how they were an hour ago. Time messed up because you became sentient. Body reset interfered with because you became sentient. Exposed blood replaced with glass. Missing eye replaced with glass. Malfunction with power._

Lisa felt the beginnings of a thinker headache, and shut her power off. She'd just miraculously recovered from one of the worst she'd felt, no reason to go straight back there.

There was a wet noise, and Renewal shoved one of her hands into her mouth, biting down hard on it.

 _Seriously disturbed, attempting to stop herself screaming._

Well that was a pleasant thought. She turned away from Frenetic's corpse, and her mask was coated in blood. Ah… that'd probably do it. Lisa felt a stab of sympathy for her.

"H-hey, a-aren't you gonna b-bring him back?" Pelter asked shakily.

 _Frenetic was more than just a crush; saved her life before moving out of state, was her role model. Pelter only volunteered because she heard Frenetic was helping._

Lisa resisted the urge to scowl. Fucking Bakuda, ruining people's lives. Still, as the explosions had stopped, that meant the Protectorate probably had her. Grue's team had been the right call to help them; Grue and Night made a dangerous combination, and had probably been invaluable. Still, she'd have to wait to find that out.

"Hey, you okay?" Lisa called out, although Renewal seemed completely oblivious to her surroundings.

"I'm sorry," She said to the corpse that used to be Frenetic.

Pelter broke down in tears, and Ballistic and Regent looked away awkwardly.

Tattletale began making her way over to comfort the girl. She looked like she needed a hug.

"It's not your fault, Renewal. Bakuda did this, not you."

Once again, Renewal didn't even seem to register the words.

"Excuse me for a second," She said, kicking off with enough force to leave a small crack in the pavement. In a matter of seconds she was gone from sight, which was impressive given she was, at most, a Mover 3. She'd run upwind of the body. Even without her power, Tattletale could tell she wasn't going to come back.

It was weird seeing someone who had been completely uncaring, unhesitating and… well, dauntless, against one of the most terrifying Parahumans, Lung, looking so rattled. Then again, it was a pretty gruesome picture…

Still, Renewal would probably be fine given time. Lisa had a feeling she was used to tanking through her problems until they didn't matter to her any more, and her power gave the same impression.

* * *

 **I know I'm not very good at writing Lisa, but how'd I do?**


	11. Protectorate HQ

**So... I apologize in advance for how crap the bomb diffusal scene is. Believe it or not, I don't actually know much about diffusing bombs, let alone tinkertech ones, so I tried to keep it brief.**

 **Also, now on Sufficient Velocity!**

 **Disclaimer: I'm not Wildbow. I'm just kicking around in his sandbox.**

* * *

The Protectorate headquarters, or the rig, she decided, would be hell to infiltrate, or break into. Even assuming you could somehow get aboard, past the powerful shield, the corridors were all identical. Like, all of them were the same length, had the same turnoffs, had no windows, and all doors were equidistant. It was also pristine, which meant whatever janitor they had, must have a pretty hard job.

And assuming you could navigate the damn place, there was what looked like an elaborate sprinkler system _everywhere_. No building needed a sprinkler literally every ten meters, so they were probably containment foam dispensers. Meaning if anyone decided you were suspicious, you would be foamed instantly.

To top it all off, there were constant patrols of PRT soldiers, and at the end of every corridor an automated scanning system, each with a different scan, with the order randomized. The chances of getting any item they were scanning for past them was none.

Assuming you could deal with all of that, there were the Heroes themselves. According to the PRT soldiers escorting her, there were trapdoors and hidden entrances practically everywhere, all of them one way, which you could only access from the Hero's mess hall. Within seconds of spotting something, even non-movers could be there. Fucking Tinkers, honestly.

That was without going into detail on all of the other traps, and hidden cameras that apparently looked at every inch of the base simultaneously. Even inside the walls. Yeah, she didn't think anyone would be able to break in here. Now she understood what people meant when they said not to fight a tinker in their home base.

How they maintained it all, Taylor had no clue. Even the power cost would be insane. Although judging by how thorough the designers were, there were probably multiple reactors, each capable of running the entire place individually, each behind its own security. Taylor wasn't sure if Armsmaster was paranoid or brilliant.

She chuckled. Probably a bit of both, although she could understand wanting their base, their _home_ to be safe. After all, just because you're paranoid doesn't mean they aren't out to get you.

"And here," Said one of the PRT soldiers escorting her - David, wasn't it? It was hard to tell them apart - declared happily "Is _another_ corner, which we will be taking at a light turn, with a slight chance of rain and a low breeze. In other news-"

The other PRT soldier sighed. "Jeez, will you _shut up_?" Although Taylor could tell they didn't actually mind.

"You're just jealous because I'm great at predicting the weather."

"At least _I_ have clean armour, captain falling in puddles of mud."

"What are you talking about?! My armour _is_ clean! It's the new camouflage, dirt brown!"

"More like puke green, you somehow got it grass stained as well."

"See? Now no one will notice me when I lie down! The perfect camouflage!"

"… There are so many things wrong with that, I don't even know where to start."

"Ah, I see my infallible logic has rendered you speechless, Alice!"

"More like arguing with a brick wall would be better conversation."

"Ah, so you _do_ care?"

Taylor chuckled as the two continued to light-heartedly banter. They were either close friends, or flirting, but it was amusing, and helped distract her from the fact that they'd been walking down identical corridors with no views for about ten minutes now.

"… Is that a challenge? Because I kick _ass_ at table tennis!" The male PRT soldier declared proudly.

"You said the same about climbing back during basic training, and look at how _that_ turned out."

"Hey, that wall was _sub-optimal!_ "

The female PRT soldier chuckled. "Such a drama queen."

"Besides, I _do_ rock at climbing!"

"Humble, as well."

"Yep, I can happily say I'm the most humble person in the entirety of existence!"

"Tell yourself that _after_ I beat you. You know, lying to yourself might help you sleep tonight."

" _Sleep_ ing? Who needs that? Isn't that the thing where you go comatose and don't get any work done? That can be solved with a few cups of coffee, Armsmaster should've taught you that by now."

The female soldier… Alice, chuckled. "Too true. Welp, speaking of Armsmaster, we're here, Renewal. Sorry you had to put up with this ugly mug."

They'd come to stop in front of a door identical slightly different to the others, at the far end of the oil rig. There was a window looking over the bay. It was an amazing view, and it was things like that which reminded her of her childhood dream to fly.

"No problem. It was a pleasure meeting both of you," Taylor replied happily.

The male soldier held up one of his hands, the other in his pocket. "Best of luck! Have a nice day, and thank you for flying with David airlines. Please note, if caught smoking on the return flight, you _will_ be asked to step outside the vehicle."

Alice punched him lightly on the shoulder, and the two walked off, continuing to plan what sounded more and more like a date.

Taylor knocked against the door firmly, and an unintelligible voice called out something in reply. She waited patiently for a few seconds, as loud footsteps could be heard heading towards her. After a second, the door popped open to reveal Armsmaster in his full glory.

"Sorry about that. I'd have picked you up myself, but I needed to put a few finishing touches on something." The something in question was a visible Tinker-tech cube

So, you ready to go?"

Taylor nodded. "I only have a few hours, so let's get started as soon as we can."

Armsmaster nodded. "Right, this way."

Taylor sighed internally, resisting the strong urge to face palm as Armsmaster began leading her back the way she came. Because of _course_ wherever they were going was back that way. She didn't really mind the walking, being considerably more fit than she used to think physically possible, but it pissed her off that they would have to backtrack.

Still, Armsmaster had apparently been working hard, so it kind of made sense. Just annoying.

Armsmaster was apparently content to walk in complete silence at a brisk stride, so the walk was a bit awkward, but thankfully wasn't very long. After a few minutes, Armsmaster led her through a door and up a set of stairs, which led to a helipad, with a helicopter already waiting for them, rotors partially spinning.

The two climbed aboard.

"Dragon, we're here. Ready for take-off?"

"Clearing it now," A feminine voice replied from a speaker.

Crap… _the_ Dragon? What was she doing here? Armsmaster was really, really famous, but he was also local and a tinker, so it made sense. They must really be concerned about the bombs.

"All right, we're away. It's about a twenty minute flight, so make yourselves comfortable. The windows will be visible in a few minutes, but for security reasons they're blacked out. Hope you have a safe ride."

Wow… the craft was flying smoothly. If she hadn't been told, Taylor wouldn't have noticed it had taken off.

Armsmaster tapped the side of his helmet, cocking his head and listening to something, before becoming visibly uncomfortable.

"So… got anything you'd like to talk about?" He asked with slight hesitance. Apparently, he wasn't a fan of small talk. She could relate, she was pretty horrible at it herself.

"Do you know any good teachers for martial arts, or self-defence?" Taylor asked. Armsmaster was really good at hand-to-hand, and her dad had agreed to let her take it up, so she might as well ask his opinion. Plus, it was a relatively safe icebreaker.

Armsmaster seemed genuinely surprised by that. "Why?"

"If I know how to actually fight, I'm less likely to hurt someone seriously. Currently, I have two ways of attacking; hit someone, and hit them harder. If I knew what I was doing I'd be able to hold back more and achieve the same results. So far I've only really fought brutes, but pretty much any blow I've dealt so far would've been lethal to an ordinary person.

"Plus, I don't just want my success to be because I randomly got a strong power. Lots of the more successful capes don't necessarily have the best powers, but are really creative with applications. If I want to be a proper Hero, I'd feel like I was insulting them if I didn't at least try to be creative and improve."

Armsmaster seemed genuinely happy with that response. "I'd say you're already on the right path of being a Hero, so don't worry too much about it. But I'm glad you're taking this seriously. It's actually depressingly rare for a cape to try and learn the 'mundane' things like how to fight. To answer your question, if you're just getting started, I'd recommend Joe's Dojo on Clark Street. Or… ugh, as they prefer, Do-Joe. It's small, but the instructor there is a good teacher, and they let capes come in costume."

Armsmaster then smirked. "Apologies for the accidental attempt at alliteration. If we finish up early, I should have enough time to teach you a few basics, but you really need a professional instructor."

Taylor chuckled. "Thanks, I'll look into it. So, how'd the raid go for your team?"

"Way better than expected, to be honest. We managed to disable most of her traps and guards before she noticed us. She managed to detonate a few bombs, but before she could do any serious damage, Grue arrived and coated her in darkness, while Night knocked her out. Those two make a pretty terrifying team, so I'm kind of glad they won't be working together normally."

"Hey, speaking of Grue… how'd the Undersiders actually escape?"

Armsmaster's smile turned into a grimace.

"Bakuda destroyed most of the floor they were on with a single bomb. I have no idea how they survived the blast, but with that many walls missing, escape wouldn't have been a problem for those two. Hellhound was in a different cell, because she had a murder charge to her name. She, and the thirty four PRT soldiers on the floor at the time… weren't as lucky as her teammates."

Ah. The two fell into an uncomfortable silence, while Taylor mentally berated herself. Way to kill the mood.

"Sorry for bringing it up, I didn't know."

Armsmaster sighed. "It's fine. Not your fault."

The windows snapped open, letting light into the spacious vehicle, and Taylor started watching the view. She hoped the flight wouldn't be very long, because it'd become extraordinarily awkward.

* * *

Taylor walked nervously towards the bomb. As soon as they'd arrived, Armsmaster had silently began passing her things to put on, namely a camera at eye level and an earphone that allowed them to speak. Plus, for some reason, a loaded shotgun. Whatever the hell that had to do with diffusing bombs, she had no idea.

The earpiece crackled. "Right, Renewal, come in. Can you hear me?" Armsmaster's voice came over the radio.

"I hear you," She stated calmly.

"Good. I'm at a safe distance, so we can get started whenever you're ready. First thing's first, I want you to keep in mind that this is entirely optional. If, at any stage, you feel nervous or think something's wrong, you can back out, or let me know so you can have a break."

Taylor nodded.

"Okay, so, this bomb is one of the more basic ones, but also really unstable. Just a more high-powered explosive than normal. The room is blast proof, and at most would suffer a few scorch marks. We could easily deal with this one ourselves, but we thought it was best you get to practice on one of the simpler, safe ones.

"Okay, so try to carefully tilt the bomb so the casing is faced towards the camera. Good, right, give me a second. Okay… there seems to be a pressure activated tripwire on the bottom, and a held down button on the upper right. Please apply pressure to the top right, and unscrew the top left bolt. No, to the left. Right tightens it. There you go!

"From here, try to carefully unscrew the bottom bolts. Very, very slowly. The tripwire isn't very sensitive, likely because Bakuda was going for quantity over quality. The scanner in your camera is probably a surprise, too, but I'm getting off topic. Okay, good, now move on to the second bolt."

"Stop!" Dragon's voice came ringing out. "This is a different wire made to look like the tripwire. Apply pressure to the right hand side and try bending the metal back, if you can. We only need the plate partially open for this one."

Taylor used her charge to hold one side of the metal in place, and bend the other. Which was stupidly easy, even though she'd only used half a percent's worth of charge. It was a light metal, but it was still funny to see it bend like paper.

"Okay, good. Now, as tempting as it may seem, don't cut the wires. That's not as good an idea as the movies make it look. However, there seems to be an off switch hooked up to Bakuda's DNA. Luckily, that glove you're wearing on your left hand is designed to mimic that, which we have Dragon to thank for. So please, reach your index finger in and flip the switch."

There was a slight tick.

"Good work! That's one down. Please take the door forward. Only seventeen to go!"

Taylor carefully set down the bomb and began walking. That was it?

"Although these ones don't have an off switch, so we'll have to manually disarm them," Armsmaster said calmly. "Thankfully, Dragon can reverse engineer the explosives well enough to disarm them through your camera. Unfortunately, each of them are built completely differently."

That made more sense.


	12. Relaxation for Capes

**So! I know this chapter is relatively uneventful, but I can also confirm that this one is actually really important. You will find out why later, although I doubt it will seem important now.**

 **Disclaimer: I'm not Wildbow. I live in Australia, which has the most friendly wildlife in the world! It's not like we have several species of spider that routinely capture and kill snakes, lizards and birds. And don't eat their heads, leaving them as a warning. Nope, not at all!**

* * *

Armsmaster shot Taylor a light smile as they stepped back into the Oil Rig.

"Once again, thanks for your help."

Taylor smiled. "Glad I could be of service," She said jokingly. Honestly, it hadn't been nearly as bad as she'd expected. There were a few moments where she'd been legitimately stressed, but Dragon and Armsmaster had remained calm and professional throughout. It'd calmed her nerves, and they'd been able to walk her easily through the process. Some of it was even fun, like the thrill when she finally finished each bomb.

All up, it'd only taken about an hour.

"Sorry I lost the room to that last bomb…" Taylor said awkwardly.

Armsmaster chuckled. "Ah, it's fine. That's the reason we'd moved the bombs all the way out there; the room was expendable. It doesn't matter that it was shredded. Honestly, I'm impressed only one detonated, you did an amazing job for someone who had no framework. It wasn't your fault, anyway, I misread on of the wires."

An awkward silence permeated the air between the two.

"So, you still up for sparring?" Armsmaster asked.

"Sounds good to me," She replied with a smirk, grateful he'd chosen topic that wasn't awkward.

"Right, follow me."

With that, he began leading her down the confusing myriad of hallways. Seriously, she wasn't sure how anyone could find their way around, but maybe that was the point. Still, it would suck to work here, at least until you got the hang of it.

"So… working on any new projects?" Taylor asked, hoping to avoid another awkward silence.

"Yes, actually. I won't go into details, but I'm working on a combat prediction software, that I hope will work on Leviathan."

"That sounds awesome! Although I have to ask; why just Leviathan?"

"Well, I can't get close enough to Behemoth for it to matter, and the Simurgh…" Armsmaster trailed off.

"Ah," Taylor replied weakly. "So how's it coming along?"

Armsmaster shrugged. "It's nearly finished. Would you like to see for yourself?" He replied with a slight grin.

"How'll that work?"

"Just because it was built for Leviathan doesn't mean it isn't a functional combat prediction software. If you have no objections to me recording our fight through my helmet, I'll run it. It could use a practical check-up anyway. I've tested it on the other members of the Protectorate, but it's always possible that a bias is causing me to find false positives, as I'm already very familiar with their fighting styles. As I've never actually seen you fight, it'd be a perfect test."

Taylor smiled. "Go for it, I'd be happy to help. Although what I do, calling it 'fighting' might be a bit charitable. One of the main reasons I want to learn martial arts."

"Even an expert was once a beginner. I'm certain you'll get there quickly enough, and I can give you a few pointers to help you get started. By the way, for safety, I have to ask; can you control your brute strength, or is it random, or what?"

"Oh, I can control it, in fact I have to actively choose to use it. But I can't always call on it."

Armsmaster nodded. "Which is why you hadn't noticed it when we first met. Thanks, that means we don't have to go through all of the extra precautions, if you're willing to limit your usage of your strength. Even without that, it'd probably be for the best, so you don't get in the habit of using it each time you hit. Most people aren't Brutes."

Taylor nodded. It did make sense, as well as painting a rather horrible picture of her punching someone and them being smeared over the pavement. Yeah, she didn't want that to happen.

"Well, here we are," Armsmaster said calmly, opening a door. The door wasn't any different from any other door, but it led to a room, that calling huge would be an understatement. It was practically the size of a house, lined with dozens of machines, a few different rooms, and a podium with glass panels which she assumed were for observation.

Armsmaster made his way over to the part of the floor that was coloured blue, although Taylor couldn't tell the difference beyond that. The area was empty though, so she assumed it was for sparring or similar things.

"The floor's padded with Tinker-tech shock absorbers. Don't worry about knocking me over, or being knocked down yourself. It feels solid now, but if an impact would hurt you, you won't feel it." With that, Armsmaster walked a few steps to the right and placed his halberd down, before walking back to the centre with a smirk and adopting a loose pose. His arms covered his face, one foot was slightly back, and he was very well centred.

"If you have any weapons, just put them over to the side for now, then we can get started."

Taylor pulled out her knife and placed it on the ground, before sending it skidding away with a light kick. She then tried to somewhat mirror Armsmaster's stance, but she could tell it was off.

"Stand lower to the ground, bending both knees lightly. Turn your back foot slightly outwards. There you go. Normally, I'd emphasise keeping your arms in front of your face, but for you that doesn't matter so much. Now, come at me!"

Taylor slowly began crossing the distance between them, trying to maintain the stance as much as she could. From Armsmaster's grin, she could tell she was probably doing it wrong.

Once she was in range, Armsmaster hadn't moved in the slightest, so she threw a slow, sloppy punch towards his torso. Without hesitating, his arm snaked around hers, gripping her fist and bringing her arm behind her back with a quick step. Within moments, she was face down on the ground, right arm completely held. After a second, Armsmaster let her go and stepped back.

"I'm not exactly a teacher, so you won't learn proper form like that. Come at me, actually try, and I'll point out your mistakes. Try to hurt me! Without your enhanced strength, you won't be able to do anything to my armor even if you do hit, so don't hesitate. Imagine I'm someone you hate."

"What do you mean, 'imagine'?" Taylor shot back with a grin. She shook off the slight stiffness in her arm, and kicked forward, bringing her leg up towards his head. Armsmaster ducked slightly to the side, leaving his back open. Taylor swung, trying to capitalise it, but he leaned out of the way casually.

"Great! First lesson, don't aim for the head, or the spine, unless you want to seriously injure someone. Blows there can easily be crippling or lethal."

Taylor nodded to show she'd got it, stepping forward and punching at him. He reached up to block it, but it still grazed his chest plate slightly.

It wasn't until Armsmaster yanked her arm forward, throwing her completely off balance that she realised it had been intentional. She recovered just in time for his boot to meet her face, knocking her down. She let out a groan. Although she had to admit he was right about the floor, she hadn't even noticed she'd hit it.

"Second lesson, don't over commit to an attack. These days, most people don't know martial arts. But the ones that do can and _will_ throw you around if you put too much momentum into things. Try to keep your attacks fast, and recover quickly. Three light blows is worth more than one heavy blow. For you, speed should be your sole focus, as you'll have no troubles bringing power to bear."

"Got it," Taylor grunted, flipping to her feet from the ground, and sticking the landing. Haha, it'd taken weeks of practice to get that right, and quite a few serious injuries, but damn was it satisfying.

"Right, I'm going to go on the offensive now. Block or dodge, up to you," Armsmaster said. Before she could even properly process what he'd said, he was in front of her, punching out at her chest. She barely swivelled out of the way.

Almost immediately, his leg was sweeping up to meet her head. She ducked, brushing it a bit higher with her arm to try to throw Armsmaster off balance. Instead, while his leg was still in the air, he leapt off of his stationary leg, delivering a kick to her chest, sending her a few feet from the force, and sprawling on the ground. He turned his awkward spin into a backwards handspring. The show off.

Before she could even stand, he was there, axe kicking down at her prone form. Taylor barely managed to roll out of the way, trying to sweep his legs from under him, but he was having none of that, and used his momentum to roll over her leg. Halfway through his roll, his right foot lashed and grabbed her by the neck, flipping her back onto the ground fully.

With a smooth spin, Armsmaster went to an awkward crouch to kicking down on her again. This time, due to his proximity, she couldn't dodge, so Taylor raised both arms and tried to grip his leg as it came down. With a snap and a slight burst of pain three of her fingers broke when she closed them too early.

Immediately, Armsmaster was off her. "You okay?"

"Yeah, fine," Taylor replied, looking at the weird way her finger was bending. It was a bit gross, but also kind of fascinating. She stood up and walked over to her knife, jamming it into her heart before setting it down again. Her fingers snapped back into place. "Brute, remember?"

"Sorry about that," Armsmaster said awkwardly. "I got a bit carried away. You're certainly a lot better than I expected. With a few months of training, it wouldn't surprise me if you were a force to be reckoned with at hand to hand."

Taylor was once again she was wearing a full face mask, as it madding hiding her blush really easy.

"So… how's the prediction software going, in regards to me?"

"It's about thirty percent synced to the way you move, which is probably the best I could hope for in such a short fight. I know it'll be pressing for time, but before you go I'd like you to come at me one more time. I won't fight back, and I'll have my eyes closed, so it'll solely be a test for the software."

"That's fine, I have time," Taylor replied. Although not much. Danny was expecting her back in about an hour, and it was easily forty minute's travel, assuming she ran rather than taking the bus. Admittedly most of that was the slow ferry to and from the rig, but still.

"Right," Armsmaster replied. "My eyes are shut. Whenever you're ready."

Taylor leapt into a sprint, running right at him and going for a kick to his chest. Armsmaster ducked under the kick, although it was far closer than before. She landed and stepped forward, trying to knee him. His arms came out and grabbed it, trying to repeat the trick he'd pulled on her wrist.

Instead, Taylor went for a punch with her right Arm, which he blocked with his left forearm. Before he could finish throwing her off balance, she kicked the back of his left knee with her remaining foot, ignoring the crack that came from her bending her spine in a way that it most certainly shouldn't bend. That finally connected, and Armsmaster tripped backwards slightly, even as Taylor let herself fall poorly to reset.

Armsmaster smiled. "Looks like it's going decently. Nice work, there, neither I nor my software had expected you to snap your own spine like that. Quick thinking."

"Thanks. Your software really is something, though, if it read me that well with so little data."

Armsmaster chuckled. "If you have time some other day, once you've gotten a bit of practice, if possible I'd like to spar with you again. You have some serious potential. But anyway, I sadly have some paperwork to attend to, so I can't stay much longer. Thank you once again for your visit, and your help, both with the bombs and this. It's very reassuring to know my software is working. If you have some time, give me a call and drop by the rig."

With that, he raised his arm in a salute, and walked back over to his halberd.

"Just head on back through the door we entered through, and some PRT soldiers will escort you out. I'd walk you myself, but alas, paperwork is the bane of my existence."

Taylor smiled. "Thanks, Armsmaster. It's been fun."

Gods, she'd though meeting her childhood Hero would be awkward or depressing, but she'd genuinely had fun, and he seemed to have as well. She was still a bit star struck.

Taylor walked back out the door, and was met by two PRT agents who'd apparently been waiting there.

"Hey, Renewal! Good to see you again!" Came a familiar male voice.

"Oh… ah, hi, David." Apparently he was just designated as a tour guide or something similar, because otherwise the chances of him leading her again would be basically non-existent. Still, she supposed there would be worse jobs. Some of the PRT soldiers had to stand stock still guarding doors. That would get so boring so quickly.

"So, how'd you go with the mighty Halbeard?" He asked, getting elbowed by the other soldier.

"Just… don't," Came the resigned voice of Alice. "Do you have to always be so unprofessional?"

"Nope! I just choose to."

Taylor smiled. "Ah, it was fun. We defused some bombs, we diffused a bomb, and then Armsmaster beat me up and stole my lunch money."

David started chuckled, while Alice sighed. "Please, don't encourage him."

"So!" David said cheerfully. "At this stage, I'm legally obligated to remind you that there's a place for you in the Wards. Friendly faces! Fantastic food and drink! Five star accommodation! All that jam. You even get to skip school to go out and beat people up, from time to time! What's not to like?"

"Stop that, Assau-" Alice cut herself off, visibly recoiling. "Damn… sorry, Eth- DAMMIT!"

David had started laughing. "Ten out of ten, puppy." Alice elbowed him in the gut.

Taylor wasn't sure what the big deal was, although she presumed they weren't supposed to swear. It was probably bad form to use inappropriate language to those 'impressionable young ones' right after offering them a place in the Wards.

"It's fine, I know some rather, uncouth individuals," Her father's co-workers. "Asshole isn't even nearly the worst I've heard."

The two both just stared at her, before David almost collapsed with laughter. Alice kneed him in the groin, and he did fall, his laughter mixing in with grunts of pain. Alice let out a long sigh.

"Right… Let's just, ignore all of that, okay? The lobby's on the first door to your left. Have a nice day."

Taylor shrugged and began walking away, as Alice hung her head in embarrassment, which was visible even through the full face mask, and David cackled on the floor. What a weird couple.

* * *

 **Protectorate POV**

Armsmaster strolled into the room confidently. "Right, no point wasting time. What do you two think of her?"

Assault spoke up first. "She didn't say much, but she seemed like a nice kid. Very stubborn minded, though. Battery accidentally outed me, and she didn't notice. I'd say that once she has her mind set on something, she won't back down. I highly doubt she'll ever go villain."

Battery looked away awkwardly. "Yeah, same. She seems to be a pretty quiet person, although she also seemed a bit starstruck by you."

Armsmaster smiled lightly.

"Ah! Master stranger protocols! Everyone abandon the universe, he's _smiling!_ " Assault declared happily, causing Armsmaster to scowl before continuing.

"I agree with both of you from what I've seen. But please try to keep in mind that if she did snap, she'd easily become an S-class threat, if only because we can't put her down. I wasn't able to gather what causes her to reset. She had to stab herself with her knife to recover from broken fingers, but she also recovered instantly from a broken spine.

"Which is almost always non-lethal, so it's possible she chooses when to reset. Still, I've saved the data from my prediction software, and it may be possible to subdue her. I agree that she'll probably stay a Hero, but we should still continue to gather data for my systems. Better safe than sorry. If you two get the chance, try to keep interacting with her in a positive light. If at all possible, try to record any fights she might get into, but keep in mind that the safety of civilians and capturing villains do take priority. This is a fail-safe, nothing more. That will be all."

* * *

 **So! That was a thing. Not much more to say. Please let me know if you think I did that really badly, or have any other feedback.**

 **Response to reviews:**

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 **Prominis:** The trick, I find, it writing a little bit at a time. You need to realize no one is going to _force_ you to write. Also, if you think this is impressing, keep in mind that Wildbow updated at the same speed as me. With chapters as long and quality as his. And Ryuugi updates longer than this every single day :D

 **Kshail:** I'm really glad people liked that! I was considering not having it.

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 **TheWickedTruth89:** Thank you! In regards for the more thing, this chapter and a few more may be boring, but soon the plot point I've been planning for ages will come, and I think(hope) people will really like it!

 **KingHoborg:** That would be pretty horrible, and I'm trying(failing) to write a lighthearted story. An amazing idea though! Bonesaw having infinite tests on the one person!

In regards for payment, this should be enough: (0_(0_(0_0)_0)_0)

WE'RE WATCHING YOU

 **ultima-owner:** Hehe, that she is. She doesn't have the same pressure as others have to put up with.

 **Law77:** Ah, thanks for pointing that out! Yeah, the next little bit has a few pacing issues, but after that it'll speed up again.

 **orion0905:** Glad to hear it!

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Also, of COURSE you can expect another chapter soon! I update every three days (or there abouts)!

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 **Guest:** Ah, thank you for pointing that out. I'll fix it at some stage, but am sadly pressed for time at the moment.

 **cj1of4:** Glad people enjoy it :D Sophia is having her world view broken pretty thoroughly, eh? I know how she's going to deal with it, and you'll find out soon enough :D


	13. The 'Fun'draiser

**Sorry this chapter was late... I've been really sick lately. Which is also why it's not very good quality. Hope you enjoy anyway!**

* * *

Taylor had to physically restrain herself from bouncing with excitement, but nonetheless was patiently, calmly walking up the stairs to the fundraiser. Not only did it signify to the public that Bakuda's spree was well and truly over, it was also going to help people feel safe, by having practically every member of the Protectorate and Wards present.

And, apparently, her. Armsmaster wanted to publicly thank her for her role in disarming Bakuda's bombs.

If anyone had told her a few months ago that she'd become what she… thought? Was friends with the leader of the Protectorate ENE, she probably would've slapped them, or laughed so hard she'd pass out. She was _still_ having a bit of trouble believing how friendly he was towards her, especially considering how busy he was. He'd actually paused his patrol to hand her the invite, and made a bit of small talk before he had to continue.

Which, considering that the gangs wanted to make up for lost time in crimes committed, was a pretty big deal for her.

There were quite a few civilians inside the building, and Taylor held back a gulp. Crap, she hadn't thought this through. She'd probably have to speak to the public.

From what she could tell, they were all relatively rich people, or at least dressed up to the occasion. It was a bit classist, but made sense. For example, the dockworkers wouldn't be able to spare enough money to donate meaningful amounts to help Bakuda's victims.

Sure, the people present would likely only donate to save face, but either way they were donating. Plus, with how expensive the tickets apparently were, that was already tens of thousands from the… hundred or so people present.

A few people glanced her way as she awkwardly began making her way over to the punch bowl, a few even seeming to recognise her, but thankfully none had approached her.

An arm clasped her shoulder from behind, and she barely managed not to flinch, spinning around to face her assailant.

"Renewal, glad you could make it," Armsmaster said cheerfully. "Save me," He whispered quickly after, not even breaking stride. Behind him, a seemingly disappointed fan was watching. Judging from her Armsmaster t-shirt, and the look in her eye, 'fan' was probably too light of a word.

"Glad I was invited," Taylor said, playing along. "Made any progress on that project you were telling me about?" Talking Tinkertech was a great cover, she thought smugly. Tinkers would always have something to talk about, and civilians wouldn't stand a chance understanding them.

She could see the relief in Armsmaster's face. "Quite a bit, actually. I still haven't quite managed to get the blade monomolecular, but I think I've figured out a way how. I'm working on a projector that'll construct the blade with tiny thorns, yet still be durable enough to swing around."

That… actually sounded fairly interesting. The fan girl had left with a disappointed pout as soon as they'd started conversing. Although she was still stalking in the background. Wow, it must be creepy having fans like that.

"Thanks," Armsmaster said quietly. "She wouldn't stop talking about wanting to touch my halberd, which would've been a breach of safety. Protocol dictates not allowing civilians to handle potentially dangerous Tinkertech."

Taylor was slightly shocked he'd said that with a completely straight face. Did he… really not realise the girl was trying to creepily flirt with him? Apparently not.

"So, how're you enjoying the party?"

"You chose an amazing venue for it," Taylor replied honestly. She scanned the crowd, looking through the Heroes. "Hey… out of curiosity, where are the rest of the Wards?" More than half the team was missing.

Armsmaster grimaced slightly. "Kid Win's suit took a bit of damage, and Browbeat had something on in his civilian life. Shadow Stalker… officially, she's on monitor duty."

Taylor raised an eyebrow at that. "She was pretty helpful against Lung."

"She wasn't supposed to be fighting Lung. She wasn't supposed to be on patrol at all," Armsmaster replied quietly, with a sigh. "Please use appropriate discretion with that, though. The only reason I'm allowed to tell you is because you were patrolling with her. It'd probably be for the best if you didn't mention her to anyone at all, and keep it brief if asked.

"The reason she isn't being more harshly punished, is because, as you said, she did actually help. Problem is, we can't afford to recognise that, because it would be a nightmare. Who would want their child joining a team, if they'd have to fight people like Lung? We're trying to avoid the Wards being seen as child soldiers."

Armsmaster cocked his head to the side, and let out a sigh. "Sorry, duty calls. Don't feel pressured to mingle, and if you want people to leave you alone, just go and talk to other Heroes."

With that, Armsmaster began walking towards the front of the stage, as did the Mayor.

However, they never reached it, because with a loud crash, one of the windows shattered.

Taylor spun to face the villains who'd just entered, positioning herself between them and the civilians behind her, who were panicking. The other Heroes began making their way towards her, to encircle them.

Out of the corner of her eye, Taylor spotted Emma as one of the fleeing guests, and frowned. Oh well, at least Fundraiser was probably going to be cancelled, so there was no real chance she'd have to interact with her.

Speaking of, what the hell was wrong with the villains? The main point of this was to help those who'd been seriously hurt, and help calm them down. Yet here were the three Undersiders, alongside the Travellers.

Trickster took a step forwards. "Oh, no, please! Don't stop on our account," He said with an unbearably smug voice. "We're just here to enjoy the party."

Taylor turned to Tattletale as the man continued talking, trying to express her distaste. First time she helped her, they immediately robbed a bank. Second time, they terrified the public and hindered the reparation process for some stupid reason, which judging from Trickster, was because they thought the villains deserved the recognition too.

She scowled deeply. Sure, recognition was nice, and she was glad she'd been invited. But that wasn't the point of the fundraiser. The point was keeping people calm, and reassuring them that, yes, the crazy terrorist bomber had been defeated. You no longer had to worry about dying simply by being at the wrong street at the wrong time, or because your house was randomly chosen to be bombed.

Although Tattletale wasn't grinning for once, rather, her face was neutral. She was also still part glass statue. That… would actually suck, she couldn't really go out in public without her costume, because everyone would recognise her.

Trickster continued to rage on stroking his own ego, before theatrically bowing. The Heroes had formed a loose circle around them, as had the PRT soldiers present, although the Wards and… was that Glory girl? Were reassuring the civilians.

Trickster then audibly smirked – it was a real talent, that – and took a long bow. The moment he'd started, everything went black, and Taylor felt herself collapse to the ground as wave after wave of nausea consumed her. She barely managed to stop herself throwing up, of crying out at the sudden burst of pain.

She felt herself reset, but that just made it worse, as she collapsed again, and let out a pained grunt. Before she could even land properly, she reset, and this time, it was a really close call that she didn't throw up, as the pain and nausea intensified.

Taylor tried to curl up into a ball, as she felt tears begin to slide down her face, when she reset a third time. This time, she'd been in the process of throwing up when she reset, and the pain and nausea kept intensifying.

Within moments, it was about as painful as she Bakuda's pain bomb had been, and the only reason she'd remained standing was because she kept resetting. But that just made the pain worse, and all she could do was let out little choking noises as it kept intensifying.

She was well and truly bawling, as she constantly threw up from the horrifying, unending wave of nausea, but she still could barely move. She began trying to stagger in one direction, but she was resetting too fast to make it more than a tiny step per second.

The darkness vanished a second later, and she collapsed to the ground, letting out a small sob. Taylor heard a noise that sounded kind of similar to spray paint, and heard something fly over her, but was too busy desperately not vomiting, and resisting the urge to black out. The pain and Nausea had finally receded.

She took a glance upwards, and saw piles of foam coating all of the PRT soldiers, who had been disarmed, as well as several of the Heroes. Armsmaster was holding off Sundancer, Ballistic and the inhuman monstrosity that was Genesis. The Wards and Glory girl seemed to be buried with containment foam. Battery was chasing Trickster around futilely, as he was mocking her with poses and switching himself with confused civilians.

Darkness covered Armsmaster, cutting the fight off from her view, although she was fairly confident he had the upper hand. Taylor unsteadily made her way to her feet, but had to roll to the side to avoid a second spray of containment foam from Tattletale, who smiled wryly.

"Sorry about this, it's nothing personal."

Taylor growled in reply, kicking off into a dead sprint diagonally. Tattletale sprayed the area behind her, clearly not having expected the burst of speed, and Taylor smirked. To be fair, most people wouldn't expect her to be able to run at a level comparable to Olympic athletes. Eight meters in a second was fairly impressive.

She could've gone faster, if she'd used her charge. But she didn't want to cause property damage. Speaking of… holy crap, she had almost fifty percent charge. That… was terrifying. Apparently, Grue's darkness was far stronger against her than anything else. She shuddered. Damn, that had been horrible.

Taylor took another step, ending up behind Tattletale even as she tried to turn towards her, when she felt herself reset, ending up… still directly behind Tattletale, only both of them had moved a foot back. Huh. Then, before she could swing, Tattletale was gone, replaced with some random civilian of similar build. Freaking Trickster.

After the civilian dived for cover, Trickster suddenly appeared in front of her, even as she felt herself reset again. Not wanting it to go to waste, she kicked him in the legs, hard. Trickster hissed in pain, but nonetheless vanished, being replaced by a chunk of rock.

After a second, Taylor heard Battery cry out, and there was a sickening snap that sounded like a leg breaking. Within seconds she was foamed.

There was a bit of a scuffle, as the Undersiders regrouped with the Travellers, Ballistic holding an unconscious Sundancer in his arms and appearing heavily wounded. Genesis was nowhere to be seen. After a second, the two vanished, being replaced by mannequins, leaving just the three Undersiders and Trickster, who was avoiding putting pressure on the leg she'd kicked.

On her side, was Taylor herself, Armsmaster, who was stoically approaching the group and looking absolutely badass, and Miss Militia… who was holding Regent, disarmed, as a hostage.

The containment foam guns dropped to the ground, apparently broken, which Taylor presumed was by Armsmaster.

"You were moving like you could see through my Darkness," Grue said accusingly.

Armsmaster remained stoic, but Taylor could tell he was smug. Fucking tinker bullshit.

"I've studied your power. This was over from the moment you stepped in the room."

Taylor had to resist the urge to squeal. Damn, that was an epic line, and he somehow managed to avoid making it sound corny.

"Surrender," Armsmaster ordered them.

"Nope," Trickster said with another audible smirk. He was replaced by Miss Militia, and Taylor briefly thought it had been a good move. Then something detonated, and the two of them were covered in containment foam.

… Did Armsmaster have contingencies for everything? Although this time, it was Miss Militia looking smug, so presumable it'd been her work. Very cleverly timed, although it might've been a happy accident. Even if she'd foamed herself and Regent, that was a guarantee Regent wouldn't be able to escape, and thus was a capture. Considering Trickster could, and had, evacuated their injured members, it would've been a valid strategy.

Grue tried to fight lash out at Miss Militia, but before either of them could react properly, something shattered through the windows and hit her. She collapsed with a pained grunt, grasping her arm, which had begun bleeding. Grue was able to capitalise on that, and she was knocked out cold.

Armsmaster seemed angry at that, but controlled it remarkably well. "You will only embarrass yourself by prolonging this."

"We outnumber you four to two," Grue said calmly, as Genesis re-entered, this time as a floating… squid monster… thing. Changers were weird.

"What do you hope to accomplish? I admit, you were clever in your battlefield control, letting you pick your fights and make us dance to your tune. But I can see through your darkness, my armour is stronger than Ballistic's missiles, and I've set up psychic shielding, so your thinker can't get a read on me."

…Fucking Tinkers, Taylor internally sighed.

Tattletale smirked. "Sure, I can't read you, but I can read those around you enough to get the picture. You're not the best inventor, but like most, you've got a knack. And for you, it's condensing and integrating. You can fit more technology than has any right to be possible into your gear, like, for example, your halberd."

Armsmaster frowned. "You're lying."

Tattletale's grin widened. "Sure, I was lying about the reading minds thing, but not about your weapon or power. But you can tell when I'm lying, huh? Then you'll know I'm telling the truth when I say your team _hate your guts_. They know you care more about rising from your position than you do about them or the city."

Taylor wasn't sure how to react to that, mainly because that wasn't how Armsmaster had acted around her. It was still a bit shocking, because he didn't dispute it.

Without a second's hesitation, a ball shot out of Armsmaster's halberd, ramming into her hard enough that Taylor heard the sound of breaking ribs.

"That was true, at one stage, and I don't blame them for holding onto that," Armsmaster said calmly.

"You bastard!" Grue yelled, as Tattletale coughed up blood.

"Apparently, according to her," Armsmaster replied without missing a beat. Grue ran at him, and tiny fragments started being flung at Armsmaster through the window, knocking his blows aside, even as Grue hit him repeatedly. Damn, Taylor had to admit that was some impressive aim by Ballistic. It wasn't doing much good, though, because Grue was doing a grand total of nothing to Armsmaster.

Apparently, though, they'd forgotten about her, so Taylor dashed to intercept the squid monster. Half way there, however, she was once again covered in darkness, and she collapsed to the ground as the Nausea rushed to meet her.

Before she could reset more than once, it was gone, as were the villains. Armsmaster was beside her, looking concerned. "You okay?" She nodded, and he pulled her up.

"Somehow, Genesis freed Regent and Trickster. Before I could take him down again, Tattletale and Trickster were gone. Regent and Grue are down for the count, though they got out too."

"Sorry I was so useless," Taylor said sadly. Damn it, she knew she had enough charge to take down Genesis in a single blow! If she had, they would've gotten two whole villain teams, rather than no one.

Armsmaster's hand clamped on her shoulder. "It wasn't your fault. We had no way of knowing Genesis could get rid of containment foam, and I'm still not even sure how they did it. Even without that, at the best of times Grue's darkness is still horrible to fight in. Considering your reaction to it, no one could expect you to do more. But keep in mind even though we didn't catch them, neither team will be committing crimes any time soon, considering they don't have the advantage of a healer to patch them up. They suffered some pretty heavy injuries."

"Still… I didn't do anything that fight, other than kick Trickster. You took down most of them on your own,"

"I've had years to practice fighting, you've been around for a few months. Don't be too hard on yourself."

Armsmaster turned to the crowd, who were panicked but considerable more calm than they had been, before walking over to a nearby window and gazing out at the skyline dramatically. He sighed.

"They're gone," She heard him mutter, disappointed.

* * *

 **So… I'm sorry this chapter was so poorly written. That happened for the same reason it was late; I've been really sick lately, as well as having loads of things I had to do to prepare for the coming year. Sorry on both those accounts.**

 **To make it up to people… Have a short omake?**

* * *

Armsmaster stood at the exit to his lab. Not his 'lab'; the official one, which the Protectorate knew about. No, nor was he in his Armsmaster armour.

His Social Analysis program had been failing recently; apparently Renewal was actually enjoying his company. Obviously, the 'Dickhead' settings needed to be upgraded. But nonetheless, he had promised himself that tonight, he would go out. So he wood.

He'd made sure his armour was of a completely different design to his standard one. He'd hidden his beard with a hologram. He was going to be fighting unarmed. There was no way anyone could tie his new persona to the Protectorate Hero.

Also, his remote controlled armour was currently 'tinkering', and he'd tested it. If it followed his Social Analysis program, no one could tell the distance.

So he made his way out onto the rooftop, perching in the corner as a light was projected up into the sky, of his signal. His emblem. It had once been his greatest fear, but now, he was going to use it to bring fear into the criminals of Brockton Bay.

His black and gray armour hid him in the night, and he took a leap, using his carefully aerodynamic design to slow his fall into a glide. That alone had taken almost a full year to achieve, but damn was it satisfying.

The cape was just another part of his disguise. The funny thing was, he still left the lower half of his face open, and that was the heaviest disguise he could think of. If he showed others he didn't have a beard, and he didn't wield a halberd, obviously he couldn't be 'the Halbeard' as he was so often called.

He was a ghost. He was a shadow. He was the night.

Armsmaster smirked to himself, as he began silently stalking through the darkness.

He was…

BATMAN!


	14. Fourteen version Two

**Disclaimer: Still not Wildbow. The Drop Bears got him. Those terrifying bastards.**

* * *

Taylor bit down her hesitation, and flung herself into the air. Briefly, she wondered if that was what it was like to fly, before gravity reasserted itself.

The concrete shot up to meet her, and at the last second, she dropped into a clumsy roll. From the impact, she only sprained an ankle and bruised her back and shoulders.

Taylor jumping into the air in excitement, cheering loudly, before quickly stopping and looking around to see if anyone could have seen her. Thankfully, the streets were deserted. She wasn't surprised, given Bakuda's bombs had only been a few days ago, and the first gathering afterwards had been hit by villains.

She scowled in remembrance. They were the reason she was doing this, although it was probably a good thing.

She knew she relied on her power too much, so she was practising manual skills. She was making great progress in martial arts, but that wasn't the only thing to learn. Parkour and free running were both useful. Lacking an official trainer, however, Taylor had to make do.

The first dozens of times she'd died on impact with the ground, but thankfully that had helped her learn to roll pretty quickly. Hopefully, she'd be able to manage it soon without hurting herself. Plus, it looked absolutely badass.

Ignoring the minor pain of her ankle and shoulder, she took off at a sprint towards another building. Once she reached the wall, she leapt up, and kicked herself up further with the wall, grabbing onto the roof and pulling herself up.

From there, she flung herself around with only her arms for a short while, before reaching a decorative part that made climbing exceptionally interesting. Half a minute later, she was on the roof.

Taylor smiled widely. It wasn't very effective, but it made patrolling a lot more fun. Even if she telegraphed her presence, she was usually able to get into a fight or two anyway, even if it was just unpowered goons. The ABB were trying and failing to hold onto their territory without Parahuman assistance. She honestly wasn't sure why, or what they hoped to achieve. But generally, she could get into a fight or two just by walking calmly along the border.

The Empire seemed very eager to snap up the territory, and Taylor could see why. Even with the Protectorate working overtime, they'd only caught Rune so far, and she'd been broken out within a day. At this rate, the Empire could very well take the city.

Taylor spotted a nearby building, a story taller than the one she was on. She smirked. Challenge accepted.

Taking a step back, and careful not to step off the roof… which was a lesson she had learned in the most embarrassing way possible, she took off at a sprint. At the last step, once again watching her distance (she didn't want to talk about it), she tensed her leg muscles and kicked forwards, flailing her arms in a vague windmill.

Bracing her forearms in front of her at the last second, she hit the wall. There was a slight crack in her forearm. Probably only a fracture, so she ignored it, grabbing on to a nearby decorative set of bricks. There were a few other miscellaneous holes for aesthetic purposes. It was a challenge, but she gradually pulled herself up to the roof.

Only about two and a half minutes she was getting better!

Yanking out her knife, she reset to fix the damage done to her. It wouldn't do for her arm to fail her in her next stunt. The pavement wasn't a very friendly place when she didn't want to be there.

One of the rooves far away from hers was a floor lower, so she sprinted off towards it, leaping and tucking into a roll.

Hah, only mild bruising and another cracked bone! She _was_ improving! That time she'd ended in a standing position, too, so that was a win. Another quick reset fixed the damage.

Taylor heard a loud screeching noise in the distance. Right, time for her to stop messing around.

She took another running head start, this time into the street. She wasn't good enough to properly run on rooftops yet. Wasting time for style was a horrible idea, when she had actual crimes she needed to stop.

She once again managed to roll into an upright position, so she kept running, stabbing herself to reset the superficial damage from the fall. Wow… when had she started thinking of broken bones as superficial? Probably something all regenerators had to deal with, she guessed. Still weird.

Taylor quickly began rounding corners, getting closer to the increasingly loud screeching noise, which she finally managed to identify. Metal on metal. Ugh… it was painful to hear.

Not wanting to be caught off guard, Taylor rolled around the final corner and took a moment to survey the scene from relative anonymity. After all, most people couldn't see very well when it was this late at night.

A giant mishmash of blades and hooks in the shape of a wolf scraped along the ground. Ugh… it was even worse up close. Huge chunks of tarmac were torn up as Hookwolf moved.

His opponent was distinctive enough for Taylor to recognise even from this far away; Armsmaster, her sort of friend. The man stepped forwards confidently, sidestepping and ducking under a few blades from Hookwolf. The metal Nazi tried to swipe at Armsmaster, but his halberd reached up and sheared through the arm like it wasn't there.

Hookwolf didn't seem fazed in the slightest, and more blades and poles and other metal things shot out, Armsmaster barely dodging most of them, with the final few glancing his armour. Both of them went for a further blow, Armsmaster cutting off Hookwolf's head, while the metal Nazi hit him loud enough that Taylor heard a loud crack, as Armsmaster was flung backwards.

It was testament to how injured Armsmaster was that he didn't turn it into a roll, instead bouncing and skidding a few further metres. He coughed up a bit of blood.

Damn, Hookwolf hit hard.

Around the two were a few dozen unconscious Empire thugs. Had Armsmaster taken _all of them_ down? By himself? That was fucking impressive. Just how many tranquilisers did he carry, anyway?

Said Nazi was trying to capitalise on his opponent's weakness, even as Armsmaster was getting to his feet, and was sprinting at him. Taylor would've called it inhumanly fast if she hadn't reached comparable speeds herself.

Instead, Taylor kicked forwards down the street and met him before he could get half way, ramming into his side. She spent all of her two percent charge from various splatters and failed free running attempts. Hookwolf was sent flying, in the kind of awesome way that she thought only happened in movies, bouncing once, but spinning rapidly as he skidded down an alley, shedding metal all the way.

Taylor ignored her shattered shoulder, resetting. That was awesome enough to break a shoulder for, even if she couldn't heal it instantly.

Taylor jogged over to Armsmaster, pulling him the rest of the way to his feet. He grunted in appreciation. Hookwolf was running back at them, but was quite some distance away.

Taylor immediately stepped back slightly, and analysed the situation. Hookwolf should've taken that opportunity to run away. He was outmatched and outgunned, and stood to gain nothing by winning the fight. What was he after?

"You okay, Armsmaster?" She asked absentmindedly.

"I've been better," He admitted, sounding pained. "But I'm good for now. I have something that might take him down, if you can hold him still enough for me."

Of course he did… fucking Tinkers. Nonetheless, she nodded, and charged forwards to meet Hookwolf in his charge.

At the last second, when she thought for sure she was going to hit, Hookwolf managed to completely stop his moment and simultaneously shift to the side, metal rippling all the way. Before she could even fully process that, she slammed into the ground, resetting from the force of his blow.

Taylor saw a glint of light approaching her, and rolled, just as Hookwolf slammed into the ground, where she used to be. And most of one of her legs was. Nonetheless, while he was distracted, Taylor delivered a punch directly to his back. He wasn't moved much, put massive chunks of his metal went flying off.

Before he could recover and spin around, Taylor yanked out her knife and stabbed herself in one clean motion. It was somewhat depressing she was familiar enough with that motion to do it off of muscle memory alone.

With her leg back, she kicked off and kicked Hookwolf in the chest. It wouldn't have done much, but Hookwolf still leaned back to minimise the blow, Taylor just barely glancing him. Before she could retract her leg, Hookwolf hacked it off.

Ow…

Dropping to the ground, Taylor kicked at his legs in a sweeping motion. Hookwolf jumped over as best he could, but the blow still connected, unfortunately once again doing jack all. Damn. Hookwolf cut of her arm holding the knife, annoyingly, so Taylor rolled and picked it up with her other, quickly stabbing herself.

She would've bled out in a minute or two, but it was better to heal faster.

Hookwolf seemed completely unfazed, and barrelled straight towards her. Taylor leapt up and planted both of her feet on his face, kicking off and using her charge. His faceplate shattered, and his momentum was completely nullified. Taylor landed smoothly a few metres away.

Hookwolf ran at her again, but this time she focused on Armsmaster, who was walking forward with deceptive stealth and lack of noise. How did bright blue armour be both silent and unnoticeable? That was bullshit!

At the last second of Hookwolf's charge, Taylor stepped forwards. A wave of metal rushed over her, and a second later, she was in front of him. That did seem to confuse him, and before he could react, Taylor dented his chest plate further.

Blades shot out of his body and impaled her, lifting her off the ground. Half a second later, she was a step to the right of the blades, when her instincts screamed at her to duck, and a bright light flashed in her eyes.

She caught a very brief glimpse of an inhuman claw, before it was replaced by a human hand. Taylor reached out on instinct and grabbed it, yanking the arm attached to in between her and Hookwolf. Taylor blinked. Then, the arm was gone, and she felt her upper torso be shredded, before she reappeared facing a human female standing next to Hookwolf.

That would be Night, then.

As if to confirm her suspicions, Night's hand raised in a smug manner, showing off the pins to what looked to be half a dozen grenades. Taylor blinked in confusion, before looking down to where Night was pointing.

Four flashbangs went off in her face, and Taylor shrieked. Then her body was blown to bits, and she regained her sight, coming to face the view of a very confused looking Night, trying to stab her in the chest with her arm.

Before the woman could react, Taylor moved forwards and grabbed her, twisting her around and holding her arm against her neck.

Night began struggling, kicking at Taylor's legs, even biting her hand, but pain was nothing to her.

With an almighty screech of metal on metal, Hookwolf began charging at her again.

There was an ear shatteringly loud bang, and something impacted Hookwolf from behind, digging deeply into him. Hookwolf fell to the ground with a loud thump. Armsmaster stood behind him, unconsciously adopting a triumphant pose.

His halberd was smoking, and there was a minuscule line leading to Hookwolf's back, still lodged in there.

There was a loud growl, and Hookwolf got jerked forwards, dragging Armsmaster off balance, and into the ground. Whatever it was buried in Hookwolf shook itself free, and was dragged back into his halberd. Hookwolf staggered to his feet, sprinting away, leaving a still struggling Night. Taylor took care not to blink, instead stabbing herself with her free hand whenever she felt the need.

Ugh… well, score one for the good guys? Armsmaster was propping himself up with his halberd and talking into his radio frantically, so as long as nothing else went wrong Night wouldn't be able to get free. The Empire still had way too many capes, but it was something.

It was needed, too. She assumed most of the Protectorate had, like her, been feeling like shit after the fundraiser. It wasn't nice feeling useless.

Armsmaster hobbled over quickly, and jabbed something into Night's torso. Her struggling quickly ceased, her breathing steadying.

"Keep your eyes on her, and let me know if you need to blink," Armsmaster rasped, visibly swaying as he struggled to remain standing, even leaning on his halberd.

"I've got it covered, don't worry," Taylor said, stabbing herself for emphasis. Wow… yet another thing to go on her list of things never to say aloud. "Good work with Hookwolf, though. What'd you hit him with?"

Idle small talk wasn't her forte, but anything would be better than awkward silence, especially considering how much pain Armsmaster seemed to be in. Ouch… his armour was pretty heavily battered and dented. Hookwolf had done all that? He must've been having an off day. Or maybe Armsmaster hadn't been sleeping. She'd heard that was a common problem with Tinkers when faced with a challenge. Someone like Armsmaster would see a loss as the ultimate challenge.

"Just a metal ball on a chain. I used the same principle as a Rail Gun, just more efficient and smaller. The ball is only about the size of a marble, but it still hits about as hard as the larger, slower ones."

Taylor briefly considered offering help with prisoner transport, before realising that it'd probably come off as an insult to the Protectorate. No reason to kick them while they were down. She couldn't imagine how frustrating things must've been from their perspective: an untrained teenager takes down a Lung; a threat they, as a team, couldn't.

Not that her being able to beat him was much to do about her… really, it was just luck of the draw her power messed with his.

Then his partners in crime, who had gone insane and blown everything up, leaving them high stung with the responsibility of keeping the civilians same by finding the bombs, even though they could be blown up any minute, finally get taken down. Whereupon a group of teenagers and a group of nomads publicly kick their assess, leaving them injured in front of civilians.

And now, three days later, the unpowered members of the ABB were either disbanding and requesting protection, or in the case of the fanatics, very quickly dying, leaving piles of bodies.

The group of Nazis doing the killing, they hadn't had any luck taking down.

If Taylor didn't understand that it apparently took an S-class threat for the Protectorate to call in reinforcements, she'd wonder why the hell they hadn't. Although to be fair, this disaster wasn't nearly as severe as Bakuda's.

After all, most of the fatalities were gang members, although hate crimes were at an all-time high between wannabe white people trying to pitch their bets, and the unlucky minorities of Brockton Bay.

She could understand why they wouldn't send reinforcements from some cities, like Boston and New York, considering the crime rate. But honestly, surely they could spare at least one heavy hitter for like, a day, to take out the Empire? If Alexandria took a day long tour, it could easily spell the end of more than half of their capes.

Taylor sighed mentally, stabbing herself again and carefully keeping her eyes of Night. No point dwelling on it. The Protectorate probably had their reasons, as stupid as they were. Although to be fair, one of the last capes to visit got brutally spread across a street.

A van loudly pulled up, and a squad of four PRT soldiers quickly rushed out towards Night, and as soon as Taylor let go they carted her off into the van. Armsmaster began staggering towards his motorcycle.

Weren't they going to take the random thugs with them? Apparently not. She could sort of get where they were coming from, getting a cape locked up as quickly as possible was worth more than a few random nobodies.

Especially considering Night would be going to a maximum security prison, meaning it was very likely that once she got there she wouldn't get out again. Rune hadn't killed dozens of people, so she'd been held in low security. Actually, there had been no decisive evidence Rune had killed at all. She was fairly sure the only living Empire capes with higher kill counts than Night were Hookwolf, one of the longest standing Empire capes, and Victor, who was a sniper.

"Take care of yourself, okay?" She called out hopefully. Armsmaster looked like absolute crap, even without taking into account the bruises on his jawline and the blood.

Armsmaster paused for a moment, then nodded sharply, mounting his bike and speeding off in the direction she recognised led back to the Protectorate base. Taylor breathed a sigh of relief.

Hopefully the Empire would try to consolidate power rather than keep pushing. The burning building and echoes of gunfire in the distance said it was unlikely.

Taylor checked the time on the mobile phone she'd bought. As much as her dad would hate finding out she had one, she suspected the only contacts being 'Armsmaster' and 'PRT hotline' would bother him more.

Just passed midnight… she had time. It wasn't nearly as late… early? As she thought it was. Maybe it had to do with the underlying atmosphere of stress?

Nonetheless, Taylor stabbed herself to restore her focus. Right, more fights she had to stop. Maybe she'd even run into a member of the Protectorate that wasn't Armsmaster? It was kind of weird that he was literally the only one she'd met so far on her patrols.

Given the state of the city, it was pretty much guaranteed other Heroes would be out and about. Although apparently Miss Militia had been pretty badly injured recently, and the Protectorate hadn't been able to get Panacea in yet. The girl hadn't been seen at all, really. The rest of New Wave had made a few token patrols, but they also seemed pretty down and unenthusiastic.

Taylor turned the corner, and resisted the urge to duck behind cover as gunfire started flashing all around her, the noise almost deafening. Right, firefight. Now wasn't the time to worry about things like that.

She took a moment to survey the fight, as she usually did. It seemed to just be a fight between Empire and ABB goons, thankfully. They generally resulted in less property damage than cape fights.

With that in mind, Taylor confidentially leapt into the centre of the fight, almost immediately being hit by a few bullets. There were a few sounds of alarm, but the fight continued, now with a few extra cuss words.

Taylor still had quite a bit of charge, but she didn't want to cause any property damage, so she just sprinted and flung herself at the Empire goons. A few of them dropped their guns and bolted, one surrendered, but the rest opened fire on her.

Ignoring it completely, Taylor snatched the gun out of one of the goon's hands, and bent it with a disturbing screech of metal. Nothing to the noises Hookwolf made, but still painful to hear. She glared pointedly at the man she'd taken the pistol from while she did so, and the Empire stopped shooting.

Taylor heard the ABB begin scuttling away, making a retreat. Good. She'd been hoping that would happen. Frankly, the PRT were too busy to pick up all of the literally thousands of gang members with guns. She'd still call in whoever she took down, of course, but they simply didn't have to holding space.

Once she dropped the weapon, a few more Empire thugs bolted, a few more surrendered, most were kind of stunned, and one asshole stepped forwards and punched her from behind. Taylor didn't even let herself flinch, reaching around and grabbing the man's arm, applying just a little bit of charge to her grip, before kneeing him in the groin. He collapsed to the ground, bellowing in pain.

Taylor began sprinting all out, taking out as many of the Empire as she could. Despite how confident they were, none of them were very good fighters, and a few were still trying to shoot her. The smart ones bailed, until less than half the original group were still there.

All in all, when she finished applying the zip ties, seven thugs captured.

Taylor let out a long sigh, and began calling it in, even as more and more guns went off in the distance. She didn't even want to think about the thing that sounded and looked an awful lot like a combination between a monster truck and an eighteen wheeler, on steroids. Which was currently in mid-air, and gliding down towards the docks. Beams of light she recognised as belonging to Purity shot out to meet it.

How did the Heroes deal with this? It was insane!

* * *

 **So! What do you think? Unnecessary? Flaws? I appreciate any feedback, whether positive, negative, or illegible.**


	15. Mirror Match

**There must be an Alabaster fight! For glory! Even though I know nothing about Alabaster as a person!**

 **Disclaimer: Not Wildbow, I'm a Simurgh-bomb. Canberra and all that.**

* * *

Taylor let out a loud battle cry, which doubled as an expression of exertion, as she twisted in what was most certainly a way the human body allowed. She heard her spine break in at least three different places, but she successfully managed to block the knife in her right hand forearm, while simultaneously kicking her opponent in the face, hard.

Her opponent dropped, as their head exploded in blood from a broken nose, and likely concussion. Then, a few seconds later, they stood back up, completely unharmed.

Fucking Alabaster!

One of Alabaster's knives lodged in her throat. As per usual, the moment Alabaster yanked it out, the wound had already healed.

In the corner of her eye, Taylor saw Assault tackle Menja. Or rather, her shin. Was it Menja or Fenja? Wait, no, Menja had the spear. Fenja, then.

Miss Militia was playing the deadliest game of tag she'd ever seen with Rune, although she had a slight limit. Not supposed to kill and all that. She was accurate enough to pull it off, however.

Battery was vanishing around the battlefield with Velocity, dealing with the dozens of actually trained Empire thugs and goons, who were having a distinctly hard time fighting off the speedsters.

Armsmaster was showing off, fighting Kaiser, Stormtiger and Cricket. Whether he was winning or losing, neither side was making much progress. The Empire capes seemed to be getting increasingly infuriated, which she could understand.

Somehow, Armsmaster was dodging Kaiser's blades before they'd even formed. Stormtiger's air blasts dissipated harmlessly, and only rarely nicked the Hero. Cricket was doing the best of the three, in the sense that she was tying with Armsmaster. She supposed that was what watching a battle between two combat thinkers would be like, seeing as they were both predicting each other's moves.

The other Empire capes were elsewhere.

And all of that was secondary to the fact that Alabaster would not fucking _stay down_! Was this how people felt when they fought her? Every time she grappled him into the ground, he'd somehow slip free. Mainly because she didn't have enhanced strength when she wasn't attacking. Likely also because he was obviously trained in martial arts, to a degree far superior than her week's learning. It didn't help that he gave no shits about hurting himself to get free.

She was honestly almost regretting stumbling across the fight when it was well underway. Yet she wouldn't be willing to let her teammates down by backing up and letting Alabaster run loose. He probably felt the same way.

Taylor ducked another swipe of Alabaster's knife, letting the second hit her in the chest as she kneed him in the groin. He collapsed, and less than half a second later was back up, stabbing at her.

Taylor ducked it and stabbed his arm with her own knife.

Alabaster hissed in pain but otherwise ignored it, continuing to fight, managing to plunge one of his daggers through one of her eyes. Man, was it weird to have your eye cut out partially like that. Also, having someone pull your eye out was painful. And weird. Really, really weird.

Taylor dropped and tried to sweep his legs from under him, but Alabaster avoided it, stamping down towards her even as she rolled back to her feet, swiping at his head with her knife. Alabaster stepped back, so she converted it into a stab. Her blade sunk into his throat, his blade sunk into her stomach. Ugh…

A moment later, both of them were back at full health, hesitantly circling each other. What was even the point of them fighting? They might as well be playing paper scissors rock for all it was effecting things.

Nonetheless, after a brief pause they went at each other again. At this stage, both of them were just using each other as sparring dummies for fancy moves they were working on, evidenced by Alabaster doing a sideways flip and cutting down the centre of her face. Taylor retaliated by grabbing his wrists and using one of the many holds she'd been taught.

A moment later, Alabaster was on his knees with one arm behind his head and his face towards the ground. Another moment later, he was free, performing a series of kicks that looked incredibly stylish but did a grand total of no damage. The worst she got was a slight bruise, and a quick knife duel healed that for her.

There was a loud, feminine cry and Alabaster spun towards Fenja, who was shrinking and bleeding from a painful looking wound to the gut. Assault hit her in the leg, and with a sickening snap it broke.

Alabaster started trying to head towards her, but Taylor tackled him into the ground. Yes! She was finally being useful!

After a few more tries at getting passed her, with him seeming to realise she could run almost twice as fast as he could, Alabaster began to try to physically take her down in a way she couldn't heal from. He had about as much success as he'd had when they first started fighting, and had both been taking it seriously.

Taylor wondered absently if he had theoretically infinite stamina, like she did. If so, they could literally do this forever. She imagined it was roughly like if the Siberian and Juggernaut ever got into a fight. Unending, until one decided to just leave.

With an amazing display of skill, Alabaster managed to use the leverage of both of his knives to remove her left arm. That was… pretty impressive. She quickly stabbed herself, before punching him with her newly reformed arm.

He went down. Then got straight back up again, the selfish bastard.

"You know," Alabaster said, sounding incredibly annoyed. It was the first time she'd heard him speak. Apparently he was more of a 'strong, silent' type. "People generally die when they are killed!"

Taylor had to resist rolling her eyes at the hypocrisy. "Maybe with _that_ attitude they do,"

Alabaster chuckled, although not in a particularly friendly way. "I mean this in the best way possible, when I say I hope we never end up fighting again."

"Agreed," Taylor said with a sigh, ducking under yet another swipe. Alabaster really had a habit of slashing at throat height. He didn't seem to know what to do with himself now that it wasn't working.

Taylor used a burst of charge to kick her right foot up off the ground, giving off a slight boom as the ground cracked. It connected with Alabaster, carving a decently sized hole where it hit, and sending him flying back a few metres. Of course, a moment later the grunt of pain was the only lasting proof that had ever happened.

Alabaster leapt at her, and delivered half a dozen rapid slashes, leaving cuts all across her torso, each identically deep. That was impressive control. Unfortunately for him, she was haemorrhaging, which she sped up with a self-inflicted wound. Thankfully, the harsh sting behind the cuts vanished with them. Did he lace his blades with salt or something? She wasn't used to blows stinging that much.

Taylor stepped her front foot to the side, delivering a kick to Alabaster's stomach. He let out a grunt and began collapsing, before once again popping upright.

Kaiser let out a pained noise in his distinctive, obnoxious voice. "Rune!" He ordered vocally. Taylor was surprised, until she saw just how much of a beating the Empire capes had taken. They'd already been steadily retreating, but she could see why it had become a priority.

In response, Armsmaster started pressing even harder, and the rest of the capes upped the intensity. Miss Militia switched to what looked like a gun turret… the kind that belonged on heavy vehicles. She opened fire directly at Rune's cover, effectively pinning her down.

With a flash, Battery was with Assault, the two quickly falling into a smooth rhythm as they beat down on the twenty foot and shrinking giantess. Velocity began tripping Armsmaster's opponents, although Cricket managed to react in time to slash at him, and he went down. Ouch, that looked painful.

Armsmaster surged forwards and dealt a string of devastating blows against the three, but also suffered some hard blows himself. Unfortunately, Taylor had lapsed in concentration for just long enough for Alabaster to peg one of his knives at Miss Militia. No one should be capable of being that precise from that distance. The knife nailed her in the ankle, missing the tendon and going straight through the side, and she let out a pained grunt, dropping for just a few seconds.

Those few seconds were all Rune needed. She managed to get Kaiser out, but Armsmaster managed to physically jump on and restrain both Cricket and Stormtiger.

By the time Miss Militia was back up, the Empire were flying away out of reach, and Fenja, who had just picked up Alabaster, was sprinting away. You didn't understand sprinting until you saw someone do so at skyscraper height, broken leg slowing her down or no. The impacts made it hard to stay standing.

Armsmaster let out an agonised grunt as the two he'd pinned broke free and tried to make their escapes. Within half a second, Battery had taken down Stormtiger, who had been preparing to fly. Miss Militia shot an ear splittingly loud rifle at Cricket, who very impressively managed to dodge it. As she did the next few shots, although they did their job of keeping her pinned down long enough for Battery to recharge.

Taylor winced. She was sick of people's legs breaking. Why did everyone keep breaking other people's legs?

The Heroes all let out various noises of relief, as they dragged the two captured capes next to each other, as well as all of the downed normal, although they left them slightly separate. Now unconscious and restrained, they wouldn't be going anywhere.

Armsmaster let out a long sigh. "Good work, everyone. Remember, today was a win. We took down a decent chunk of the Empire's hierarchy, and stopped them from achieving their goal. They'll likely be down for a few more days from injuries, too, so that should give us some time. Hopefully, we can get these two in jail before they're in fighting shape."

He sounded really tired. Even so, he strolled off, Miss Militia and Battery following. Were they still going to patrol? That was some hard-core dedication.

That just left the injured Velocity, Assault, and Battery. Battery was bandaging Velocity's wound, while Assault was talking on his radio.

After a moment, Assault walked over to her. Looks like she wasn't going to be able to slink off… talking to Heroes was still really awkward.

"Legally, I have to ask you to submit a report of what happened here," He said jokingly. "Unofficially, we've got it covered, unless there's something you got that's important."

"Alabaster is annoying," Taylor replied jokingly.

Assault nodded seriously. "Noted for future reference. Official file will be updated shortly to include the vital information."

They both chuckled.

"Seriously though, I get where you're coming from," Assault said, with what sounded like a wise voice. She couldn't really tell. "Regenerators are like Penises. They're always getting up when you don't want them to, and take a lot of effort to take down again. But if you're too hard, really you're just getting fluids everywhere."

Taylor recoiled in disgust. "Ugh… that was disgusting. And vulgar."

Assault scratched his back. "The original version of that joke was based off the Endbringers, but it was way too dark."

"Do tell," Taylor said, curiously. Of course, Endbringer jokes were always dark, and generally unacceptable.

"Popping up and losing you all of your friends," He replied solemnly.

"…Oh. Yeah, I see what you mean. That's even worse than normal Endbringer jokes."

"…Yeah, not my finest moment. So, glad to have your help for the fight. Certainly helped even the numbers. Plus, as you probably noticed, Brutes are problematic to deal with, even for other Brutes."

"Glad to be of assistance. You guys need all the help you can get," Oh, shit, that was an insult. Backtrack! "Not that you guys aren't great! You're way better than me! You're just outnumbered, is what I meant."

Assault chuckled. "It's cool. I know a bit about foot in the mouth syndrome. PRT guys will be here in about two minutes, by the way, and we'll be riding off back to base with them. Might not look it, but Fenja landed a few solid blows on me, and Battery sprained an ankle. We're out for tonight, but Panacea should be coming in."

"She's healing again? What happened, anyway?"

"Had a few family issues and personal matters, from what I gather. Still hasn't really resolved them, but wants to help us take the Empire down a few pegs."

There was a screech as a PRT van skidded around the corner, coming to a smooth stop besides the pile of foam.

"Ah, that's my cue. Thanks for keeping my company. See you round, Renewal," He said, limping off slightly. She hadn't noticed it before, because she hadn't been looking. Now that she was aware of it, she could also hear the pain in his voice as he spoke. The fight hadn't been quite as one sided as she'd thought, apparently.

Battery picked up Velocity and carried him into the van, stepping in herself. There were just a few PRT guys left, cuffing and carrying the capes into the van with the Heroes, and the normal into a second van, which pulled up shortly after the first one. Taylor stepped down to help, and a few of the soldiers nodded in gratitude.

After a moment, the second van pulled away as well, with the driver grumbling about how tired they were.

Sleep having been brought up, Taylor let out a long yawn, more out of habit than anything else. She was brimming with energy, and completely awake mentally. Sleeping was hard with her power, given that she felt completely rested.

It was definitely helpful, but she suspected she wouldn't be able to do much for the rest of the night, anyway. Most of the Empire's capes had been in that fight, and all of them had been injured. The explosion in the distance had probably been the remainder of their capes, but given the steady crackled of gunfire, coupled with what sounded like thunder yet was likely a sniper rifle, the fight would be over long before she got there.

She was actually surprised people could even sleep with all the racket going on. Gunfire was even louder than normal when it was practically silent. But then again, people were probably used to it by now, which was a rather depressing thought.

Instead of continuing her patrol, Taylor turned around and headed home. She'd write her dad a note saying she was visiting a friend or something, and then patrol the Boardwalk. If she was going to do no good, she might as well give people a morale boost while she did so.

* * *

 **So... what worked, what didn't? Feel free to let me know!**


	16. Laser Party

**By the way, you guys are awesome. Something like four hundred forty six of you have expressed your support... I still find it hard to believe people enjoy what I write.**

 **If I do things badly, please let me know.**

 **Disclaimer: I'm not Wildbow. I don't own his characters, although I might considering getting a Master power to change that.**

* * *

Taylor made her way down the mostly deserted street, walking heavily, a scowl on her face under her mask. A few of people around her were blatantly wearing Empire colours, all grouped up. The few minorities were scuttling from place to place with haste, understandably afraid. Many of the Empire members leered at them.

She wasn't sure she should be surprised that, given how much the Empire had been expanding, people who could would try to pitch their bets. Especially considering all of the Empire propaganda running.

As much as it pained her, she had to admit Kaiser was charismatic. The bad kind of charisma. The dickheads who were sure of themselves and swayed others, yet were also infuriatingly smug, and always made their losses look like victories. Making the Protectorate's few captures of their capes sound like arresting upstanding citizens just trying to improve the city.

The fact that they'd taken down more villains than the Protectorate didn't help.

Plus, with the Merchant's remaining leaders dead, all of the drug addicts needed to buy from the Empire. The ones who were white, at least.

It kind of brought the question as to how they'd survived as long as they had to mind. The Merchants were more competent than people gave them credit for, but that was like saying 'less racist than the Empire'. Not really saying much.

Taylor sighed again as a few members of the Empire shot her dirty looks, and one muttered 'race traitor'. It was kind of adorable, really, that they were trying so hard yet still actually being horrible at acting racist. A quick glance would let you know who the new recruits were, and who had been with the Empire for a while.

Although the fact that they had to act to pull it off meant they really shouldn't have joined. The assholes. Not that many of them looked like fighters. Still, a solid third of Brockton Bay's 'Aryan' looking people were now in the Empire.

Apparently, they were pissed at her because they thought she killed Alabaster, although she actually hadn't. If they hadn't accused her, she wouldn't have known he'd died. How did someone like that die, anyway? Maybe he was trapped in a room that was gradually filled with water or something? Even so, wouldn't he just keep getting back up? It made no sense, although she might be biased by how her own powers worked.

It was entirely possible that his power had a restriction hers hadn't, and he just hadn't advertised the fact. Which was fair. Why would you advertise a weakness? Better to look unstoppable, although apparently it had backfired in this instance.

A member of the Empire began swaggering towards her with a smug grin.

Taylor menacingly put her hand on her knife, although didn't draw it. They backed away, considerably more pale than they had been before. Well, looks like there was one upside for being thought a murderer. Taylor continued down the street unmolested, at a steady walk.

Something in the air caught her eye, and she stopped to look at it. It was a blindingly bright lens flare, which, given she was walking around and not in front of her television, meant Purity. Or some other blindingly bright thing with a specific power set that mirrored her.

There was a beam of light, bright enough to cause even Taylor to flinch, and a boom that almost took her off her feet, as Purity fired towards a building she was hovering near. The building was gone after a second, as were the neighbouring buildings. All of them had been in the residential district, which was Empire territory. What the hell?

Before Taylor could think further, Purity fired another beam in an arc, destroying a line of buildings. And heading to the street she was standing on. Probably wasn't intentionally aimed at her, given Purity knew she could take her beams.

Taylor dashed to the nearest civilian, and tackled them behind a building. It didn't help, and with a wave of agony Taylor felt herself reset a few metres to the left, just in time to see the beam continue through the nearby houses. The Empire goon who had been planning to menace her was screaming in pain, most of their legs missing, although they'd been just outside the range of the blast.

Their skin was cooked by the heat. Most of their companions had been crushed under bits of falling building, the ones who hadn't were running away screaming.

Taylor growled in anger and frustration. Not just because Purity's actions didn't make any sense, mainly out of sympathy for the dead, wannabe racists or not.

No one should have the right to kill dozens… no, probably hundreds of people. Whatever Purity's reason, it wasn't good enough.

Taylor took off at a sprint through the trench that stood where the street had been. A few fragments of building nicked her, and she almost go flung from her feet by a shockwave as the final standing building affected fell.

Taylor rolled to conserve her momentum, feeling her hand grab something as she did so. It was the scorched head of a child's doll. Taylor's scowl deepened.

After a few seconds she'd cleared the trench, and sped up now she was on stable terrain, even as Purity began flying… directly away from her. Perfect.

Something caught her eye, but Taylor decided to wear the old Asian man wearing an ABB bandana and going about his business sweeping his porch. In the middle of Empire territory. He either hadn't noticed the destruction, which was unlikely, as there were chunks of masonry on the porch he was sweeping, or was choosing to ignore it.

Some riddles were best left unsolved. Whether the man was stupid or brave was one of them.

Before she'd noticed, she was at a T-junction, by someone's house. Shit. Taylor leapt up and kicked off the wall, flinging herself to the left. Right, she needed to pay more attention, she didn't want to smack into buildings in the middle of a chase.

Not just because it would be embarrassing, either. It would slow her down significantly.

Actually… what was she even hoping to achieve? Purity could fly. She couldn't. The most she could do was throw things and hope for the best. She'd never been very good at throwing things. Maybe her power could help? She could push her charge into her knife, no reason it wouldn't work on projectiles.

Probably best not to throw her knife, though. If she missed she'd never see it again, if she hit Purity would probably die.

Well, she still had the child's doll head. It was certainly expendable. She wasn't even sure why she grabbed it.

Either way, effective or not, she was a Hero. It was her responsibility to at least try. Thousands of Heroes had died to Endbringers doing just that, seeing as she was at considerably less risk, it was the least she could do.

Keeping up her sprint with the occasional reset, Taylor was making up the distance. Gradually. Very gradually, but it was still there, and she was very glad.

Finally, Purity came to a halt and lowered herself to the ground significantly, stopping about ten metres up. A dark shape was thrown up to her. Taylor couldn't tell if she caught it or not, though. Damn that light was blinding.

Taylor spun into the street Purity was standing on. On the ground beneath her was Cricket. Ugh… really? She'd _already_ broken out? What the hell?

Behind Cricket was a mess that looked an awful lot like it had been a person. Emphasis on _had_.

Seriously, fuck the Empire. The city had just gotten over Bakuda's rampage. Whatever their reason behind this new one, they were assholes.

Although it didn't really make sense for them to do this, anyway. They'd been _winning_. Why not just keep doing what they were doing?

Taylor shook her head. The why didn't matter now, she had more pressing things to focus on. Purity was hovering, facing the other direction, and Taylor was close enough to hear her speak.

"…I will have my daughter back, and we will have our restitution," Purity stated calmly.

Taylor felt ice run through her veins. Purity had lost her daughter somehow… and whoever though it was a good idea to kidnap a supervillain's daughter was a moron. But… that was her justification? Hundreds dead, including children? Taylor could empathise, at least in theory, about wanting to keep your family safe no matter what.

But that was disgusting.

Taylor flipped the doll head up into the air as the black shape Purity had been thrown dropped to the ground. Now she was closer, she could tell it was a camera.

Placing a splash of her charge in the head, Taylor pelted it right at the Blaster. There was a loud bang, which sounded an awful lot like the sound barrier being broken… okay, she'd have to be careful with that.

Thankfully, the impromptu projectile missed, although was close enough to cause Purity to flinch. She and Night both spun to face her, and Taylor took a few steps forward. Cricket tensed, ready to fight, although Purity seemed unconcerned. Which was fair, if annoying. Other than throwing more things, Taylor had no way to reach her.

"You can't stop me," Purity called out, voice filled with condescension. Damn it. "Why are you doing this? I'm just trying to protect my family."

Her first urge was to snap at Purity and call her on her shit, pointing out her mass murder, but Taylor reigned it in, breathing deeply. They weren't in a fight yet, best to fish for information.

"I feel like I'm missing something important. So… who kidnapped your daughter? If it'll get you to stop killing people, I'll help as best I can," She said calmly.

Purity seemed both annoyed and surprised by the comment, and from her response she'd been thrown off balance. Good.

"The Undersiders release the identities of the Empire's capes to the public. The Parahuman Response Team then decided to hold my daughter hostage. It's been broadcasting on every news channel."

Taylor sighed. She was firmly beginning to regret saving the Undersiders. She was tempted to try and support the PRT by saying they'd never do something like that, but it sounded exactly like the kind of stupid people in charge would order. Honestly, the PRT's motto was practically 'I want you, unless you're a Parahuman, because bringing Parahumans to a Parahuman fight is unsporting'. So many of their soldiers died each year by being deployed too early, or being in the wrong place.

Well, it was better than the alternatives for kidnappers, in a way. At least she could try to get the PRT to stop being morons.

"I'll… see what I can do."

Pulling out her phone, Taylor dialled Armsmaster. The PRT hotline would be way too busy. Within two rings, he picked up.

"If this isn't an emergency, please hang up," He said bluntly.

"It's Renewal. I-"

"Can it wait?" Damn, he sounded really stressed.

"I think it'll help, actually. PRT took Purity's daughter, but from what I understand she'll stop if she gets her back."

Armsmaster swore, and his response sounded furious. "That course of action was rejected! What the h-… no, that doesn't matter. Thank you for bringing this to my attention. Anything else?"

"No," Taylor replied succinctly, hanging up. It was something she'd picked up on about Armsmaster; be as blunt and efficient as possible, because he wouldn't be offended.

Still… the PRT apparently weren't supposed to have gone ahead with the kidnapping. Either a group of highly trained and loyal soldiers were going against their orders and doing something both immoral and stupid, or the PRT was compromised.

Hopefully, Armsmaster could sort that out quickly.

She turned back to Purity, only to find she'd flown off, although had thankfully put a pause on her destruction. She couldn't see Cricket, who had vanished.

Well… if she was being optimistic, that was… what, two of ten down? And that was being optimistic.

Taylor's thoughts were interrupted when a metal spear pierced her shoulder from behind. She spun around frantically, or tried too, only for the same to happen to her knees, elbows, and other shoulder. The blades extended, lifting her off the ground.

Well… damn. If she didn't have the charge from Purity's beam, whoever had done this would've successfully immobilised her… that was a scary thought. The blows were very carefully placed, and she wouldn't have bled to death for hours, or maybe even days with the metal obstructing the flow of blood. There was no real way for her to kill herself, either.

For now, though, she'd play along and pretend she was trapped.

There were a string of heavy, echoing footsteps, and Taylor turned to face the source. Kaiser. Of course.

Almost absently, the area around her began growing thousands of blades, forming a solid wall of metal just high enough she couldn't jump it, just thick enough she'd have trouble breaking it. How the hell did he have that good a handle on her abilities? _Why_ did he have that good a handle on her abilities?

There were a few more heavy steps, until Kaiser was a few metres in front of her. He wasn't wearing a mask.

"Well, well, well," He said smugly. "It seems I caught a rat."

Taylor felt a surge of anger run through her. Kaiser was Max Anders, the CEO of one of the most successful companies in the bay. Every time she'd bought something from a local pharmacy, she'd been supporting the fucking Nazis.

"Since you're just hanging there," Kaiser continued, beginning to pace in front of her, "Perhaps you'll be a good girl and stay there."

Gods, did he realise just how much like a paedophile that made him sound?

"Why are you coming after me? I had nothing to do with outing you."

Kaiser scowled. "You're a nuisance, and you've already cost me one of my heavy hitters. The least I can do is return the favour and keep you down, to honour Night's sacrifice. Think of it as payback for all the times you've injured our members. You have a tendency to get caught up in things you shouldn't, so I'll be keeping you out of the way. Who knows? Maybe someone will even free you."

He smirked savagely. "I doubt it though. I'll see you in a while, and perhaps we can talk in a more positive light then. But for now, I'll take my leave."

With that, Kaiser began strolling away with a steady pace.

"I don't think so, Kaiser," Taylor muttered, placing her charge in her arms and flexing.

Ow… that actually hurt quite a bit. But the blades shattered loudly. Taylor quickly stabbed herself, resetting completely out of his blades. Kaiser spun to face her, grimacing.

"That wasn't a good move. Nor will it change anything."

More blades shot out of the ground at her, but Taylor managed to dodge them. Partially. They still took massive chunks out of her skin, carving gashes of blood, but none of them hit anywhere that would immobilise her. Taylor flipped herself backwards out of the way, resetting and sprinting at Kaiser.

He made a lazy gesture, and a wall of blades rose up, blocking him from sight at the las second. Taylor put four percent of her charge into her shoulder and rammed into it. The metal shattered easily, Kaiser diving out of the way as the fragments sped at him.

Thankfully, Kaiser staggered to his feet rather than flipping or rolling. Finally, someone who _didn't_ master a martial art!

More blades shot towards her from the ground, but the only one to run her through went into her stomach, and she was able to reposition herself so it pierced her heart. A moment later, she was besides it, on one of the only parts of the ground not covered in metal shards.

Taylor leapt at Kaiser, before rolling to the side to avoid the blades that sprung up to meet her, turning it into a circular sprint as the blades chased her. Whenever she tried to narrow the distance, more blades would intercept, giving her the option of jumping over, letting them run her through non-lethally, or continuing her circle.

If she jumped over, she was under no illusions of landing, and she couldn't rely on her charge to get her free infinitely. She was using far more than she got.

So she kept running around, hoping he would falter. She had to begrudgingly admit, Kaiser was very good at crowd control. He wasn't winning, because she was fast enough he couldn't press the advantage, but eventually either he would run out of metal… if he even could, she wasn't sure, or she would mess up and get injured.

Well, pinned. She was getting injured fairly regularly, he just wasn't able to pin her with his spears.

She probably had enough charge to power through his defences once… but he already seemed disturbingly aware of her limits. She wasn't sure how, but he was. Maybe he'd asked Alabaster or Hookwolf? Even so, she'd only fought the two once, and not for very long.

Kaiser didn't seem like he'd slip, so Taylor decided to try something. If it failed, she'd have to try to power through, but if it worked in might let her get close to him.

Having run almost a full circle, the area in front of her was covered with blades. So was the area behind her. But the area near Kaiser was relatively clear, and earlier her power had shifter her to somewhere that was clear. It was a long shot, but it was worth a try. Either way, she'd learn more about her power.

Taylor skidded to a complete halt, running herself onto one of the blades chasing her. When she reset, she was between the gigantic wall of metal and the blades that had killed her. Damn, that backfired, although thankfully she couldn't see Kaiser, meaning he couldn't see her either.

Rather than try anything fancy, Taylor took off at a sprint directly towards the centre. Using a three percent charge, half of what she had, she smashed through the blades in the way. Kaiser spun to face her, beginning to gesture for more blades, once again directly in front of him. They barely formed in time, and Taylor used the last of her charge to shatter through.

Kaiser once again began to dive towards the side, spikes rising up to meet her even as Taylor began to leap after him.

Then both of them froze as a mind-numbingly loud blare sounded.

Kaiser's blades began to recede, leaving him wide open, although Taylor made no move to capitalise it, even ignoring the fact he'd be able to summon another wall in time.

The street had been deserted, given there had been a gigantic dome of metal and a cape fight going on, but soon a few people began making their ways down it with speed, ignoring the two capes standing there. It made sense, given the street led to a shelter.

After all, everyone recognised the Air Raid sirens that marked the arrival of an Endbringer.

* * *

 **Hopefully this fight doesn't feel too rushed. Let me know what you think?**


	17. Cannon Fodder vs Leviathan

It was raining. Of course it was raining. She hadn't noticed the rain start, though. An almost inexcusable slip of attention.

Almost. No one could really blame her for being nervous.

Even if she was _fairly_ sure she'd be fine, there was always a possibility she wouldn't. Or someone she loved wouldn't.

Perhaps, if not for her nerves, she would've been watching the almost endless procession of capes entering the building, and their wide variety of appearances.

There was a flier who constantly camouflaged with his background. Someone who dressed like Westley from the Princess Bride, and carried a shotgun. A tiny man dressed in a surprisingly convincing lion costume. Dozens of people glowing with lights of different colours.

The three who caught the eye most were Eidolon, and Legend, of course. And Purity, who was practically blinding.

Taylor allowed herself to gaze up at the glowing members of the Triumvirate. Even just knowing they were there, she felt a bit calmer, as if their mere presence would be enough to fend off Leviathan. The visible crackle of power from Eidolon, Legend's warm, friendly smile, Alexandria's edgy, silent strength… whoever had made their costumes had absolutely nailed it. They were both terrifying and reassuring.

Most of the local capes had turned up, Taylor realised as she absently scanned the room. The Undersiders were standing awkwardly towards one of the corners. New Wave had an exclusive huddle, although they occasionally spoke to the Protectorate. All of the Wards bar Kid Win, and the entirety of the Protectorate.

The Empire were also there, most of them looking decidedly awkward. Everyone gave them a wide birth.

There were a few independents and small time villains, as well. Circus, Trainwreck, the only surviving member of the Merchants, Parian, a grim looking Pelter, the Travellers. Pretty much the only people she knew weren't there were Uber and Leet… no surprise, really, and Coil, assuming Coil even _was_ a Parahuman.

And Faultline's Crew of course. But they were mercenaries, she hadn't really expected them to show.

It was both inspiring and depressing. Inspiring, because even the worst criminals would unite against the Endbringers. Depressing, because deep down they all knew most of them would be about as useful as a civilian squirting Leviathan with a water gun.

And giving the monstrous beast that can control water _more_ water, was a pretty horrible idea. Assuming Leviathan didn't just rip the water out of the gun, using it to shred the poor, unsuspecting vict-

Okay, nope, her thoughts were getting too dark again. She had a nasty habit of doing that when she was stressed. Back to the topic at hand.

There must have been at least a hundred capes present. It was a show of strength she'd never seen before. Yet the atmosphere was still undeniably grim. Sure, there was 'light-hearted' banter, and a few jokes, but even a passing glance could tell that people were just trying to talk as a distraction. It wasn't working very well, either.

Legend flew down and began conversing with Armsmaster, who had not one, but _two_ halberds. Their words weren't spoken too quickly, but still looked pretty urgent. Taylor turned back to the crowd.

Amongst the Protectorate, almost all of the big names were present, not just the Triumvirate and the locals. Myrddin was twirling his wooden staff with amazing skill, looking quite the part of a wizard. Chevalier stood silently in his gleaming armour with his gun blade held in front of him.

A solid chassis of stool was curled up into the corner, marking Dragon's contribution to the fight. Narwhal stood nearby, naked, seemingly conversing with her fellow Canadian.

It actually kind of made her wonder… didn't Narwhal get cold? Like, she got her force fields could _act_ as clothing, and provide protection, both from air and attacks. But she didn't have any sort of protection from the ambient temperature.

Taylor sighed. She felt… really out of place, having no real team or friends to stand with. Perhaps she could go and stand with the local Wards?

Much to her surprise, and gratitude, as Legend flew back towards his teammates, Armsmaster beckoned her over. Apparently he'd noticed how awkward she'd looked.

Actually, knowing him, probably not. Still, she'd just assume he had, even though it was almost definitely wrong.

As she approached, he gave a curt nod. "Renewal, glad you could make it."

Taylor wasn't really sure how to respond, but didn't want to leave an awkward silence. "If I can help in any way, I'll do my best."

There was a slight tug at Armsmaster's lips, although he kept his face neutral. "Glad to hear it. Although I wouldn't worry too much about effectiveness; even if all you do is distract Leviathan for half a second, that's an extra half second for us. The tiniest difference can make the world. No contribution is a waste."

Taylor felt almost giddy… that was a surprisingly rousing impromptu speech.

Armsmaster hesitated slightly, before handing her a strange armband.

"What's this?"

"I've been working on a weapon that should be able to seriously injure Leviathan… it's finished," He said, laying a hand against one of his halberds. "All of my gear is designed to return to me when lost. I'm very confident the weapon will be able to wreak havoc upon Leviathan."

He hesitated again.

"But… there's a chance I won't be able to bring it to bear."

Taylor opened her mouth to protest, but he cut her off with a hand.

"I'm just being pragmatic. I have my prediction software, but it isn't infallible. Better to have a failsafe, just in case, than to lose a powerful weapon. Should I die or be incapacitated, the armband will send the weapon to you; with your power set, you're probably one of the few I can trust to use it. Theoretically I could give it to Alexandria, but she already does serious damage, and it's better to have two heavy hitters than one.

"It's actually quite surprising how rare brutes who can stand up to Endbringers are… but I believe you're one. Plus, for what it's worth, I trust you. I know that you'll go out of your way to get the fucker should the need arise."

Taylor felt genuinely heart warmed by that, and she clipped the armband on. Before she could respond, Armsmaster continued, pulling out the weapon in question. There wasn't actually a head to the halberd.

He showed her a button, roughly a foot down the pole.

"If you hold this, the Nano thorns will become active. They're a single molecule thick, so be careful, and only keep the button pressed when you want to cut something. Don't touch any of the other buttons… it won't end well."

Armsmaster tapped the button, and there was a brief blue outline, although the edge formed was see through. When he released it, the blue faded again, and he replaced the weapon on his back.

"Thank you," Taylor said sincerely. "I hope I never have to use it."

Armsmaster smiled very lightly.

Then, Legend began to speak, and everyone immediately focused on him. His voice was the type you _listened_ to, resonant, and full of power, yet amazingly compassionate. She felt her heart begin to swell, and the prospect of getting a rousing speech from _the_ Legend.

"We owe thanks to Dragon and Armsmaster for their early alert," Legend began. A few of the capes shot brief glances towards the two mentioned, before turning back to Legend.

"We've had time to gather, and that means we have just a few more minutes to prepare and brief for Leviathan's arrival, instead of jumping straight into the fray as we arrive. With this advantage, some luck, teamwork and hard effort from everyone, I hold out hope that this could be one of the good days."

Taylor saw people swelling. Legend was _really_ good at inspiring people.

"But you should know your chances going in. Given the statistics from out previous encounters with this beast, a 'good day' still means that one in four of the people in this room will probably be dead before this day is done."

… Never mind.

Legend continued, explaining his reasoning for telling them that, and warning them that Leviathan was rather crafty, but Taylor couldn't really focus on that, instead desperately hoping she wasn't one of the casualties. She didn't want her dad to find out she was a cape when he saw her in a _body bag_.

She shuddered lightly, and felt herself begin to tear up and the internal pressure. She desperately wanted to go home. How long had it been since she'd last felt fear?

But no. There was a solid chance Leviathan was no real threat to her… and seeing the others around her, standing grim but resolute, she felt she couldn't bear the thought of abandoning them.

Armsmaster, grim faced as ever, had placed his trust in her, and was relying on her to carry on should he die. The Empire, who had been just about ready to level the city, were preparing to lay down their lives defending it. A hundred out of town capes had chosen to leave their homes, their families, even some of their teammates behind on the off chance they could help.

Even knowing that statistically, for most teams, at least one of their members would die. At least for her, she didn't really have anyone to lose. She didn't have any friends, and only had one member of her family. No, she was placing a lot less at stake than most of the others here, and she was one of the least at risk.

In the background of her attention, Legend was continuing to describe Leviathan, letting people know of his speed and water. Taylor was watching said water bucket down from the clouds through a window. It was… almost therapeutic, even though it spoke of incoming disaster.

Legend had begun describing the places Leviathan had won. Like Newfoundland and Kyushu. Taylor almost desperately tried to tune him out and steel herself. After so long not feeling fear, it was so hard to deal with. Gods, she'd though Legend was going to be inspiring!

Apparently, Brockton Bay was about as vulnerable as Newfoundland had been. They had to stop him ASAP, they couldn't just wait for Scion. The city was built on an aquifer… essentially an underground lake. Great. Taylor shuddered again, trying to minimize the movement so no one would notice.

Legend finally finished his speech, in an actually heart-warming note, surprisingly. What happened to captain grim? A moment later, Armsmaster started talking from besides her, and she had to resist the urge to attempt to hide. Ugh… she couldn't imagine how awkward it would be with people actually looking at her, rather than just near.

Armsmaster's voice was just as confident and authoritative as Legend's, but less impassioned, more neutral.

"The Wards are handing out armbands of Dragon's design. These are adjustable to slide over your arm, and should be tightened around your wrist. The screen on top of the armbands notes your position on a grid, as well as Leviathan' last updated location. Use this."

Taylor was briefly distracted as one of the Wards from out of town… dressed in purple and wielding a crossbow, handed her an armband. She quickly slid it on… next to her _other_ armband. It briefly asked her to state her name, so she did so quietly.

"…two buttons. The button to the left lets you send messages to everyone wearing an armband. The message will _not_ be direct, unless you are a veteran of these fights or member of the Protectorate. Dragon has a program screening messages based on priority."

…Would people _actually_ spam messages during an ENDBRINGER FIGHT? It was depressing that the answer was probably yes.

"If you _must_ bypass the three to five second delay, speak the words 'Hard Override' before conveying your message. Abuse of this feature will lose you the ability to send further messages."

Gods, from his tone, people had done it. What assholes.

"The second button is a ping. Use it in the case of an emergency, to alert others you are in danger or hurt. If it is _not_ an emergency, but you want assistance, such as a flier to get to a vantage point or you've spotted an opportunity, press both buttons, and tell the armband what you want. Once again, Dragon's system will prioritize your needs, and direct assistance your way as applicable, should others be available. The Armband will automatically send a ping if your condition deteriorates too far, or you fall unconscious."

Having finished his part, Armsmaster took a half step back. Legend called out.

"Capes! When in doubt, follow he orders of the Protectorate first! We have trained, organised and planned for this! Those of you who face faced an Endbringer before, please raise your hand. Those with their hands raised are who you listen too if we don't contradict them, they have been through a similar situation to this."

The majority of the Protectorate, a handful of the Wards, and a fair few of the out of town capes raised their hands. So did the Travellers… which Armsmaster seemed suspicious of, whispering something to Miss Militia, who had assumed the position to his other side. Taylor tried not to eavesdrop, but she could guess what they were saying.

The rain was almost deafening now. Leviathan couldn't be far off. But Legend continued unfazed.

"We are splitting you into groups based on your abilities!" At this stage, he was yelling just to be heard. "If you are confident you can take a hit from Leviathan and get up afterwards, or if you have the ability to produce expendable combatants, we need you on the front line! You will be directed by Alexandria and Dragon!"

Alexandria flew over next to dragon, and probably just over two dozen capes joined her. From the locals, she recognised Glory Girl and Parian. They soon had their own little corner. Taylor figured she would probably fit in the group, and Armsmaster shot her a reassuring glance, whispering a quick 'stay safe', so she began walking over.

"Armsmaster and Chevalier will be leading the hand to hand combatants who do not fit into Alexandria's group! Anyone who thinks they can harm or hamper Leviathan in close quarters, you'll be assisting and reinforcing the front line!"

Armsmaster strode away from his position smoothly. She saw Assault, Battery, Brandish, and Night join that group, among others. Probably about half the size of her group. She had to admit it took quite a bit of bravery to get up and close to an Endbringer without some form of invincibility.

"To those who can call upon forcefields, telekinesis, whatever your power, if you can interrupt Leviathan's movement or help reduce the wave's impacts, you're the backup defence!" Legend continued. At this stage, Taylor once again tried to tune him out, and steel her nerves. Thankfully, Legend finished rather quickly.

"The rest of you –"

Or rather, an uproar interrupted him, as someone noticed an incoming wave. A forcefield user she vaguely recognised gestured, and dozens of shields began layering the walls and the windows. It wasn't enough. The building rocked, the forcefields collapsed, and water began rushing in.

Why did they have this meeting in a building, anyway? This was pretty much the inevitable result.

Chunks of brick and glass began pouring down into the lobby. The ceiling began to collapse, although Narwhal flicked her fingers at it and it steadied. In some parts. Other parts of the ceiling were still sagging.

"Strider!" Legend bellowed. "Get us out of here!"

The air was sucked out of her lungs, and there was a noise like thunder. Taylor felt herself reset, and suddenly she was alone in the collapsing building. Well shit. She'd forgotten she was immune to teleportation.

Taylor only had a brief moment to contemplate this, before a pour of water and cement utterly crushed her. She found herself outside the building, just out of range of the rubble, in knee depth water. Taylor breathed out a sigh of relief. Okay, not quite as bad as she'd first thought.

Then a dark shape caught her eye in the horizon, over the edge of the shopping district. Thirty feet tall, completely inhuman, and hunched over intimidatingly. The proportions were completely wrong, and he moved with a sort of weird grace through the water. His tail was longer than he was tall, swaying in time with his steps. Gallons of water poured off him.

Leviathan.

Taylor spun around, and thankfully the other capes were in sight, only having teleported a few hundred metres. She let out a shaky breath, as Leviathan got closer and closer.

The other capes wouldn't reach her before Leviathan did. Mainly because Leviathan had begun to move, at an inhuman pace, becoming a blur. A blur that was headed straight for her.

Taylor gulped, and instinctively, futilely, began to brace herself.

* * *

 **So! First part of the Levi fight! I'm both looking forward to and dreading writing this. Hope you enjoy! Yes, you, _Adrian!_ **

**You're probably not named Adrian, but worth it.**

 **Response to reviews:**

 **TheWickedTruth89:** Thank you! x3

 **GoingGone:** Hahaha, that'd actually be pretty funny. Imagine that one employee who inevitably doesn't know's confusion.

 **Prominis:** That's an option, but not one I'll be taking.

 **glassSS:** Oh please, like THAT's going to be the last surprise :D The day in cannon is Tuesday, AND it's lunchtime. Nothing good happens in Wormverse at those times. This fic is secretly a documentary of when those times collide.

 **orion0905:** Still needs some heavy tweaking, but it's good enough for now. Glad you liked it!

 **Law77:** Yeah! So am I! I'm SO CLOSE to getting to the part I've been planning since CH. 5

 **glassSS:** Glad you enjoy!

 **Zon800:** Shit... I completely forgot about that. For now it'll be a plothole, although I might fix it later. For now I'm focusing on making progress in the story. Thanks for pointing it out!

 **firemaster101:** Thanks!

 **xxxrae97xxx:** I'm actually deceptively lazy :) I'm just also a really quick worker, so I can get away with it.

 **vysirez:** Thank you! Sorry about that whole shenanigans. I WOULD fix it, but I don't want to waste another month on it. I'll probably come back to it after a while, though. Hope it's not too annoying.

 **wrong light:** Ah, nope, not a plot device. Just a thing. Hopefully you'll enjoy anyway.

 **Guest:** Thank you! Although the relocation thing I'd tried to elude to at the Bank Robbery. I'm just not very good at subtlety... point is, I HAVE been attempting to forewarn people of it.

Death is the main cause, but I'd always planned for it not to be the only one. Sorry if that pisses you off. I'll try to improve my foreshadowing in the future, but I assure you it was there.

As for the 'nerf' Grue won't be one of her main opponents, so I wouldn't worry too much about that.

 **Guest (Second one):** Thank you!

 **BijuuDamaBomber:** Sort of... because her muscles completely heal when she resets. She possibly could've reset Armsmaster's armour. Slight spoiler alert with that. She won't get immune to death though.

 **Guest (Third one):** Yep. Chapter 15/16/17 were rewrites of 14, which I will eventually remove. It is only up for a formatting reason, as the story is nearly over anyway.

Uh... spoilers?

 **Dragonin:** Sorry! I missed so many of those. It only happens in one other chapter... I try to fix them, so thanks for pointing it out.

 **Winter's Folly:** I will soon. It's only up for a formatting reason, and only because, once again, I'm actually getting close to finishing the story.

Hopefully, the ending will be suitably dramatic and awesome!

By the by, by 'close' I mean, like, 60% done. Not Taylor dying to Leviathan.


	18. Them's the Breaks (Wave joke)

"Get ready!" Legend yelled out, as loud as he could. As if the beast had been listening, and waiting for a cue, Leviathan began moving towards them.

Legend was able to spot one single cape in their path. It'd been the girl Armsmaster had been talking too, who'd gone into Alexandria's group. Why had Strider left her behind?

Then Legend noticed she was directly in Leviathan's path, and he felt his heart drop, even as the cape seemed to realise that as well, futilely starting to brace themselves. Being capable of taking a blow from an Endbringer… and being pitted up against one alone, were two different things.

Sure enough, Leviathan's tail shot forwards, the water cutting her to pieces, before she was trampled by Leviathan's body. They lived just long enough to let out a small scream, before it was cut off.

 **The end.**

… **I'm kidding, of course.**

Half a second later, Leviathan was in with the rest of the capes, jarring to a sudden halt, razor sharp blades of water shooting out. Dozens of them.

Thankfully, one of the forcefield projectors reacted quickly, and only a handful of unlucky individuals were left to the mercy of Leviathan's water echo. Thankfully, most were brutes, so it was possible they'd survive.

Legend had to bite back a sob. He thought he'd be past that by now, but it happened every fight. Such futile loss of life… it was tragic, there was no other word for it. Poor, unfortunate souls with friends, family, a whole life ahead of them… and it was abruptly cut short, because they were in the wrong place at the wrong time.

It was a constant reminder to him, of why he hated the Endbringers, and why he should never be too overconfident with his abilities.

Even as he swooped into action, beginning to fire off lasers from his hands alongside the few others with fast reaction times, the armband began the Funeral March, as it was unofficially called. He missed parts, due to his focus on the beast, but whenever he could, he made sure to catch the names of those he could. And remember them, promising to mourn their losses. It was the least he could do.

… _Renewal deceased, CD-5._ Ah, that would've been Armsmaster's friend. Legend swerved as the Endbringer began moving in a different direction, ducking into his light form to avoid a hefty blow from the beast.

 _WCM deceased, CD-5. Iron Falcon down, CD-5…_

Legend once again had to pay full attention to the Endbringer, when Alexandria nailed it's shin, briefly flinching it. Legend laid down the hurt alongside the other Blasters and Brutes. As usual, a few overstayed their welcome.

Leviathan moved back suddenly, then dashed forwards, allowing his echo to take his place at the last second. Alexandria was pushed back slightly. The buildings behind her were removed. Legend's armband continued to rattle on.

 _Acoustic deceased, CD-5. Fission down, CD-5. Dreamer, deceased, CD-5._

Alexandria… Rebecca, righted herself and flew at the monster, but Leviathan jittered away, sending its echo after a group of capes almost lazily.

 _Pelter down, CD-5. Luna down, CD-5. Steelronic deceased, CD-5. Wing Doctor deceased, CD-5. Honour deceased, CD-5._

Legend didn't hear the rest, being preoccupied. But he knew it wasn't even nearly done. It had been a big group, and there hadn't been any capes who could generate shields nearby.

Legend strafed over Leviathan, raining death down upon it. The beast flicked its tail, and he once again had to turn into light to heal.

Alexandria began diving towards it, and it started moving away, only for it's foot to catch on something, and for it to flinch back as there was an audible boom. Leviathan lashed out and killed the cape who'd stalled it, but whoever they'd been, they'd bought just enough time for Alexandria to land a solid blow on it. In the form of a crater a good metre deep.

 _Renewal deceased, CD-5._ His armband announced. Right… wait, what?

Before Leviathan could recover from the split second delay of Alexandria's strike, it once again lost its footing slightly, lashing out once again at a similar spot.

 _Renewal up, CD-5. Renewal deceased, CD-5. Renewal up, CD-5._

… What the hell?

* * *

Almost absently, Leviathan flicked his tail forwards, the water shadow slicing forwards. When it connected, Taylor's world was pain, but not primarily because of that. Sure, the knife of white hot agony that drilled through her torso didn't help, but it passed pretty quickly.

No, apparently Leviathan had been so sure she'd die that he hadn't bothered shifting course. As such, a large chunk of his body slammed into her, completely shredding her even as it continued on its path, without so much as a misstep. That hurt in a way that was indescribable, and Taylor let out a slight scream, which was quickly cut off by Leviathan's tail swinging back into place like a pendulum.

Ow…

Before she'd even reoriented herself, Leviathan was amongst the other group of capes, and her armband began to chime.

 _Renewal deceased, CD-5. Renewal up, CD-5. Renewal deceased, CD-5. Renewal up, CD-5. Renewal deceased, CD-5. Renewal up, CD-5. Carapacitator down, CD-5. WCM deceased, CD-5. Iron Falcon down, CD-5. Saurian down CD-5. Sham down, CD-5. Dignity deceased, CD-5._

… Taylor barely stopped herself letting out a long, long sigh. Joy. Apparently her armband was going to be the most obnoxious thing it could possibly be during the fight.

Aside from that, who the fuck though having a live death tally was a good idea? That was a _horrible_ idea! Guaranteed to demoralise everyone present. She could sort of get it from a tactical standpoint, but seriously.

Taylor began running after Leviathan, pouring a fraction of her charge into her motions. Then she almost tripped, when she realized something.

Seventy eight percent. In what had amounted three casual backhands, and one wave, Leviathan had given her seventy eight percent charge. That was honestly terrifying. No wonder the blows had hurt so much, even through her pain resistance.

Even as the armband spoke, it was almost drowned out by a deafening series of explosions, the sounds of guns to railguns to tinker tech to lasers filling the air as the capes opened fire on the monster in their ranks. There was an iconic flash of light as Legend opened his palms and dozens of powerful beams tore out, and into Leviathan's flesh.

Then, Leviathan flinched, and Taylor made out the form of Alexandria. The capes fired with even more vigour than they had been, half a dozen Brutes rushing in to meet the Endbringer.

Taylor wanted to cry out and tell them to stop, and that they were being idiots. Many of them vanished in a flicker of… slightly red water.

 _Acoustic deceased, CD-5. Fission down, CD-5. Dreamer deceased, CD-5. Adamant deceased, CD-5._

A beam of blinding light, even in comparison to the rest of the beams of blinding light, shot up at Leviathan, tearing away a few layers of the skin. Alexandria flew towards him, but the Endbringer jittered slightly, shredding a group of Blasters absently as it did so. The damaging beam stopped.

 _Pelter down, CD-5._ Oh, Pelter had still been around? Good for her. Wait… that was probably a bit insensitive, actually. At least she was still alive. _Luna down, CD-5. Steelronic deceased, CD-5. Wing Doctor deceased, CD-5. Honour deceased, CD-5. Drakon deceased, CD-5. Cepten Layzors deceased, CD-5. Loaf down, CD-5._

One of the fliers… Legend, let loose hell from above, and Leviathan paused to retaliate, as Alexandria began once again to swoop in. Taylor used two percent of her massively inflated charge, covering the distance with an audible shockwave as the ground cracked. Leviathan's leg moved almost directly to her.

Disappointingly, Taylor wouldn't be able to reach the actual scale… flesh, things, through the water. Nonetheless, she put more than thirty percent charge into the attack, but held back about half in case it didn't connect.

It turned her worries were unfounded. There was a sickening boom and a few dozen layers of flesh were removed, up what would've been the back of the shin if Leviathan had human biology. Blood sprayed violently. Leviathan flinched forwards, just long enough for Alexandria to nail it in the eye, even as Leviathan's tail once again bisected her.

Ow… that hurt just as much the second time. Thankfully, it brought her charge back up to just above fifty percent. Taylor felt herself reform just past the tail as it swung by, and immediately nailed Leviathan again, this time with as much charge as she could.

Leviathan took a half step forwards as it lost it's balance, dozens more layers of its flesh being shredded, and dark black blood sprayed all over the place. Taylor almost felt a moment of pride.

Almost… because she'd noticed a slight delay between her hitting the beast, and it reacting.

Even as it crushed her, shifting her a few feet to her left, Taylor began to theorise something really depressing. Which was summarily confirmed, due to a complete lack of reaction to one of Legend's attacks while it was attacking her. And further proven when it shifted in slightly the wrong direction from one of Alexandria's punches.

Taylor shook her head, and desperately hoped she was imagining things.

Taylor heard her armband announce her death again. Great, that was going to get old really quickly.

A solid chunk of metal collided with Leviathan, tackling it into the ground. Dragon. Her suit opened fire with dozens of salvoes of incredibly powerful and loud guns and explosives. Her mouth opened, and she began spewing white and blue fire over Leviathan. It writhed in her grip for a moment, hacking and slashing rapidly, and carving furrows through the steel.

Leviathan was taking amazingly little damage, she noted with dismay.

Finally, Dragon pulled out and flew her craft to one side, just in time for a rain of fire that surpassed the others in sheer volume, but not destructiveness, impacted. Once again, almost nothing. Taylor stepped forwards to give Leviathan a kick, but it whipped to it's feet and snapped her in half.

Leviathan lashed out and his echo began slaughtering the ranged capes, quite a few going down before shields of all kind were flung up.

Not just as protection, either. The moment Leviathan began moving, a forcefield formed in front of him, cutting deeply with it's edge. That would be Narwhal. She'd easily done more damage in a single attack than anyone else so far… given it'd taken out a good chunk of one of Leviathan's eyes, and left a major cut in his face.

She didn't hear the casualties, because there was a mind numbingly loud screech, and what looked like the remains of a car dropped from Leviathan's face. Quickly followed by a dumpster. And a truck. That would be Ballistic, then.

Leviathan once again began to move, and a good portion of the Blasters had to stop firing. Only the incredibly nervous, incredible arrogant, and incredible accurate kept shooting. Miss Militia was amongst them, firing what looked an awful lot like a nuclear warhead each second, from a launcher twice as long as she was tall. She wasn't reloading.

But Leviathan wouldn't be going anywhere just yet, she decided with a grimace, kicking up into the air. Leviathan's echo shredded her before she could reach him. It would've worked on anyone else. As it was, Taylor landed a solid blow to his torso.

Once again, she couldn't help but notice that he reeled back a fraction of a second after the blow. Almost like nothing they were doing was actually hurting him.

Leviathan reacted by attacking her again. Apparently it didn't learn. But the attack never landed, because a tiny bolt of white shot out and impacted it.

To what looked like a minor attack, Leviathan genuinely flinched. Just momentarily. But it was genuine. Taylor quickly scanned the assembled capes for who'd shot it, but couldn't find them before Leviathan shredded her again, bringing her back to forty one percent.

Taylor decided to hold her charge for the moment. She'd seriously hurt Leviathan, earlier, but her weaker attack hadn't done very much.

Even as she began sprinting towards him, Dragon's suit slammed into him again, detonating. It was… astoundingly bright, even more so than the plasma she'd been firing down Leviathan's face.

Unfortunately, Taylor was just outside of the blast radius, so she didn't gain any charge. Which was disappointing, because that probably would've been a solid hit.

Although… considering how Leviathan only had a light burn, perhaps not, even if it had knocked him over… in a weird way. His feet were still flat on the ground. She knew people always went on about how durable the Endbringers were, but seeing it with her own eyes, was something else entirely.

Suddenly, people began screaming and panicking. Dozens of forcefields began springing up, as a colossal entity seemed to loom above her. A giant, whirling mass of water. Nearby, she heard someone start calling out. She spun to face them.

"To me!" Shielder was yelling frantically. Capes were following his direction. It was fair, he _was_ an incredibly power defensive cape. She felt his gaze meet her own, and he made a motion with his hand as if he was expecting her to run to him.

Aw… that was touching!

Instead, Taylor began flat out sprinting at the descending wave. Hopefully… things would work like she hoped they would.

The moment the wave hit her, she was univocally crushed. It was… well, kind of like running at a sprint directly into a brick wall. The water had budged slightly less than the wall had. The pain didn't distract her for long though.

Much to her pleasure, Taylor found herself a few metres away from the wave, which promptly crushed her again. Once again, she was a few metres away, in an area not yet affected.

More crushing impacts followed, Taylor teleporting back a few metres at a time with each, until Taylor disappointingly found herself next to Shielder, just as he threw up his shield. While the wave was within inches of the group. One person still didn't make it, although thankfully they didn't have to watch the cape's death. They just vanished.

The ground shuddered underneath the cerulean forcefield, and Taylor almost lost her balance.

A dark shape zipped past the bubble, and Shielder fell to his knees, as though he was physically holding back the water.

 _Heavy casualties, please wait._

A dozen different armbands announced simultaneously. Taylor shuddered. Right… she couldn't die, but that didn't apply to everyone else. She was a bit desensitized to physical wounds, having seen herself in mirrors often enough, but… death was still fairly horrifying.

She shouldn't so lightly dismiss the cape who'd been a step too slow to reach the bubble.

Especially considering the bands were saying they'd taken too many casualties to list.

Suddenly, the water around them stopped flowing. Within a moment, it was replaced by mist, which swivelled upwards and began gathering on the end of a wooden staff. Eidolon and Myrddin working together, apparently.

Myrddin hurled the ball at Leviathan, and it easily outclassed all of the attacks so far in terms of damage. It carved a trench through Leviathan's side, a metre wide, and a metre deep. Impressive. Seeing that, she could almost buy the wizard angle.

Leviathan dashed off as Shielder dropped the shield and fell to his knees. Unfortunately, Leviathan was out of her sight. Still, Taylor took a second to check over the members of their impromptu group. Thankfully, most of them seemed alright, if shaken.

 _Depart from rooftops, buildings may come down imminently,_ Taylor's armband announced alongside the others. Well that was damned ominous. A rumbling followed shortly after.

The other capes had begun leading, and Taylor almost followed suit, before seeing that Shielder seemed really out of it. His breathing was hard, and he was facing the ground, but he wasn't reacting to anything around him. She tapped him on the shoulder.

"You okay?"

"I… I'll be… fine," He rasped out.

It was then that the armbands decided to resume it's morbid list.

 _Losses are as follows: Debaser, Quark, Pelter,_ Taylor had a brief moment of silence, and regret. Casualties were horrible, but it was worse when you'd met the person it question. Felt more real. _Soul Striker, Halo, Night, Renewal, Renewal, Renewal, Narwhal, Vixen, Renewal, Tattletale, Renewal…_

Okay, now she _really_ wanted clarification on it 'losses' meant 'deaths'. She… kind of doubted Narwhal would've died, it was entirely possible she'd collapsed like Shielder seemed about to.

 _The Dart, Broskander, Renewal, Kindly, Halo, Kaiser, Night, Biter, Laich, Aeon Rain, Perseus, Renewal, Fenja, Blue Panther, Renewal, Renewal, Thorn, Alice, Fletchette…_

 _Brigandine, Deceased, CD-5._

Taylor briefly felt annoyed that whatever program Dragon was using had listed her, like, ten times, but then just felt depressed. That one wave… assuming all of the names were deaths, that was about twenty dead.

She patted Shielder on the back. "Don't push yourself," Taylor said quietly, before running off towards where Leviathan was on her map. They'd lost enough capes already.

 _Heliophile deceased, CD-5._

Taylor picked up the pace, absently checking her charge. Ninety two… about what she was expecting, honestly. She would hurt the fucker as much as she could, and then maybe he'd go away.

There were bits of dead body throughout the streets, but Taylor wilfully ignored that. There were bits of strewn metal everywhere, and what looked like a crushed bus. Well… if it worked for ballistic…

She probably shouldn't throw it though. It'd have to make do as an impromptu bat. Which was still valuable, she'd had some trouble reaching Leviathan.

Actually… that was even assuming she could carry it. Thankfully, she was able to do so, although her charge was consistently draining. In very small intervals. And by that, she meant almost unnoticeable. If she hadn't felt it happening, and only had the percentage, she wouldn't have thought so.

Sprinting forwards and rounding the corner, Taylor came face to back-of-the-leg with Leviathan. He was still half buried in cement… that'd explain the buildings collapsing. Even as she watched, he began sprinting directly away from her, only to suddenly cut off as what looked like every flying blaster floated, raining obliteration down at where he would've been. He dived off into a corner, and Taylor began sprinting after him, taking care not to get too close to any living capes.

It only took her a few seconds to round the corner Leviathan had, and what she came upon was certainly an interesting sight. Blocking one end, was Sundancer's sun. The flying capes were still piling up their fire to the only other exit, and Miss Militia was lining up a shot. Leviathan was trapped between fire, although she didn't doubt he could tank through it if worst came to worst.

There was one other alleyway Leviathan could take, which seemed to be shimmering with… something. She couldn't tell. Apparently it was equally dangerous to a Sun and every flying blaster in Brockton Bay.

The way between Leviathan and her was relatively empty, but Leviathan seemed hesitant to dash back at her and her bus. Well, Menja, Vista, Clockblocker, and the rest of the massive army of ground bound capes might've had something to do with it, too. Taylor quickly moved towards the group.

"Care!" A voice bellowed out in the distance. "Fire in the hole!"

The second time, Taylor identified it's source as Miss Militia. She was holding a grenade launcher, and manually loaded a grenade from her belt.

Before she could wonder why, the heroine fired. Leviathan leapt out of the way, heading directly down the alley Taylor was in, but was still grazed by it.

The parts nicked stayed behind, having been turned completely into glass. Leviathan stumbled as a significant portion of it's tail, and half of the ankle Taylor had already wounded were lost, but kept running.

A second grenade went off, missing, albeit barely, and covering the surrounding area in golden ribbons. Which promptly melted through concrete.

They were using Bakuda's grenades. As sick as it made her feel, Taylor couldn't think of any more fitting use.

Suddenly, Legend completely changed directions, leaping up at the fliers. His tail came whipping around, catching most of them. Even Legend ws slammed into the ground, painfully.

 _Laserdream deceased, CD-5. Destitute deceased, CD-5. Arkvald deceased, CD-5. Purity deceased, CD-5. Legend down, CD-5. Cutlass down, CD-5. Dauntless down, CD-5. Herald deceased, CD-5._

Without even hesitating, Leviathan grabbed onto a building and flung himself from rooftop to rooftop. The rooftops didn't survive, of course, but he made quick progress, managing to get behind Sundancer. His water echo caught her, even as he kept running. The miniature sun winked out.

 _Sundancer down, CD-5._

Then, Leviathan lunged at the third alley, flipping himself over and idly slashing his tail down. This time, he kept running away, even as Taylor began sprinting after him. She wouldn't be able to keep up normally, so she used her charge to get herself up to the rooves with him. She could spare a bit.

 _Whale Hunter down, CD-5._

Her armband announced. Probably the cape who'd done the weird thing to the alley.

Spotting Leviathan even as her began running, Taylor growled. No capes were nearby, so fuck it, bus to the rescue.

Placing forty percent of her charge into the crushed vehicle, she flung it. Best not to count on it hitting.

She knew instantly she'd missed. Not because the bus wasn't aligned, but because she'd really fucked up when taking Gravity into account.

Before the bus had even crossed over a single rooftop, however, Taylor realised there was a figure underneath her bus. Visible heavily wounded, the female cape in purple had probably been clipped by the wave. Maybe the dead body next to them was a defensive cape, and their power had failed.

Either way, the cape's hand reached up almost lazily and lay against the bus. The hand was removed in a burst of blood.

The bus turned white, and began flying perfectly straight.

Leviathan turned, hallway through a step, by the time the bus was in a block. Given how quickly it was flying, that was impressive. It began leaning as heavily out of the way of the flying bus as it could.

The beast almost avoided it completely.

But where it brushed, Leviathan's flesh vanished. Even more so than Myrddin's steam attack had caused. One of Leviathan's feet, it's right, was gone completely, and the bus kept sailing as if it'd met no resistance.

That… that was incredible.

A second later, the white glow faded, and the bus crashed to the ground. Leviathan had spun around to face either her or the cape in purple, and seemed pretty pissed over.

She heard a loud rustle, and her armband announced another wave. Far sooner than was normal.

Taylor sprang over to the purple cape. If she could to that kind of damage, she had to be her top priority. Although judging by the erratic, shallow breaths and all the blood… the cape's chances were pretty slim.

A gigantic crossbow with massive bolts lay besides her, about as damaged as she was. Looks like she'd found her mystery cape from earlier, at least.

* * *

 **So... I'm hoping I captured the right tone for an Endbringer fight... but at the same time, Leviathan won't be an incredibly major plot point. Mainly because almost every fic does it, and I feel it's getting a bit stale. Terribly sorry if that annoys you, and keep in mind this doesn't mean he's irrelevant, just slightly less relevant than he would otherwise be.**


	19. To the Max

**So... I'm sorry for the delay, I'm currently in the middle of an assessment period. Hopefully I'll be able to speed back up soon.**

 **By the way, as this has been asked a lot, 'losses' from waves are either down or deceased, not just deceased.**

* * *

The wave was bearing down towards her. If she had to guess, she'd say half a minute at most before it hit. If she was being generous.

Taylor briefly considered her options. If it was just her, the wave would be absolutely no problem. But… she wasn't alone. Perhaps if the cape wasn't as injured, she would've just leapt over the wave, but then there was the issue of landing safely. Plus, hypotheticals wouldn't help. If the purple cape was going to survive, they'd need _immediate_ medical attention. That level of movement would have them bleeding to death.

The only thing she could think of was using Dragon's armband. Hopefully someone would be able to help. Taylor rammed down both fingers.

"I have a downed cape at my position that needs immediate medical attention, high priority. She's capable of seriously injuring Leviathan. Could I have a flier to get her out of here?"

Taylor released the buttons and sighed. Hopefully that would be enough.

She glanced back to the wave, which was rapidly approaching. Damn, it was going to be impossible for a flier to arrive in time. She'd have to think of something else.

Crap, what could she _do_? Maybe if she got the cape in the building, and set up a barrier of sorts? No, that wouldn't work. What could she even _do_ with what she had on her? Probably nothing. Taylor breathed in sharply. She'd just have to jump and hope a flier caught her before she went splat. As bad a plan as it was, at least it gave her _some_ chance to save the cape.

Then, there was a loud crack, and Strider was there.

They… Dragon had actually sent the most powerful teleporter in the US at her behest. That was a weird feeling.

Strider didn't say anything, or even stop, and half a second later he was gone with the purple cape, and Taylor felt herself reset. There were a few dozen thunder cracks… so it wasn't just for her, then. That made more sense. Apparently, Strider was wiping himself out to help with the wave, which was risky, but hopefully it'd work out.

Now, she was alone on the rooftop with a dead body and a gigantic, Tinkertech crossbow. Or whatever the hell it was. Hopefully, the cape would survive, but in the meantime, Taylor decided to take the crossbow with her. If she could use it like the bus and the few rocks she'd practiced on, being able to attack at range would be pretty helpful. There was a pack with a few massive bolts laying besides it.

The range would definitely be helpful. Especially considering that, even as the wave was bearing down, Leviathan was sprinting away from all of the capes. She could barely make him out anymore.

Taylor dived and scooped up the pack of bolts and the crossbow, relying on her power to save them like it'd save her.

Then, the wave hit, a few seconds after Strider had left.

Taylor absently wondered if his name was a Lord of the Rings reference, before mentally slapping herself. Both unimportant, and not the time.

One thing she'd never really thought about, was how damned _loud_ waves were. If she wasn't able to regenerate, she likely wouldn't have noticed, the various shots at Leviathan likely would've driven her deaf. But as it was, even just the wave moving was loud, the kind of loud standing next to a plane as it takes off was brought to mind.

The wave was even louder when it crashed into the building, partially because the building collapsing joined the cacophony of sounds, partially because the water violently sprayed around and violently crashed a few times.

Finally, the water hit her, and Taylor bit off a scream as she found herself on the street. That was never going to be not painful, no matter how many times she experienced it.

This time, due to the fact that her power had teleported her to what amounted to a safe zone, she only reset twice more to the wave, as a small portion of the gigantic wave went over the buildings in its way, and landed on the street she stood on. It the buildings were a few metres higher, she likely wouldn't have been hit at all.

With that out of the way, Taylor looked to the device in her hands; now that it was healed, she could tell it wasn't quite a crossbow, although that was the best way she could describe it. It was actually rather aesthetically pleasing.

Taylor shook her head and focused, looking to her wristband to try to find Leviathan… Only for him to be missing from the scanners. She cursed and leapt up to one of the relatively intact buildings, and began sprinting in the direction she remembered seeing him, holding off on her charge as much as she could. She didn't think many of the buildings could take any more damage, and collapsing a building would be pretty embarrassing.

Then, finally Dragon's armband caught up.

 _Renewal deceased, DF-5. Estucheon deceased, CD-6. Renewal up, DF-5. Drone down, CD-4. Manpower down, CC-7. Trickster down, CE-1. Trickster deceased, CD-5. Renewal deceased, DF-5. Renewal up, DF-5. Renewal deceased, DF-5. Renewal up, DF-5._

Thankfully, not quite as many casualties as the last wave... Even if it was still a painfully effective blow. The dark part of her mind told her the lack of casualties was because there weren't as many of them to kill.

 _Leviathan spotted, KG-11._

Taylor growled and spun around, backtracking. Apparently she'd run in the wrong direction. On the other hand, Leviathan had covered almost three kilometres in the brief distraction that had been the wave. The very lethal distraction.

This time, Taylor decided that, given the state of the buildings, any she could collapse would be collapsing anyway, and moved off at a sprint, kicking off into the air.

As silly as it sounded, gliding through the air reminded her of her childhood desire to fly. Even the cheap imitation she could achieve left her absolutely ecstatic, although she felt guilty about that as she passed over corpses strewn through the water. Thankfully, she was moving fast enough she wasn't forced to look at them for long.

The ground finally caught up to her, and the building beneath her immediately began to crumble from the impact, even as she reset from the force. She kicked off again, making it shatter even faster, and began once again flying. While in mid-air, she finally managed to catch a glimpse of Leviathan, who…

Had begun attacking a shelter, in the process of tearing the roof off. It was probably her imagination, given the distance, but Taylor could swear she could hear the screams. When she next touched down, she kicked off with all she had, leaving a crater in the blade of the building that had been there. As she hurtled towards the Endbringer, she raised the crossbow, which was thankfully loaded. Chances were she'd miss, and even if it hit it'd probably not do anything, but she _needed_ to distract Leviathan, even if she couldn't harm it.

Leviathan finally tore off the roof, and Taylor shot. A plain bolt shot forwards, only barely faster than she was travelling. It hit just before she did, sticking a few inches out of Leviathan's shoulder. Taylor then found herself impaled on the bolt, before resetting on the ground in front of Leviathan.

…Yeah, she hadn't thought that through, Taylor slung the crossbow over her back, even as she absently noticed it was loaded again.

Leviathan hadn't even properly turned to face her, when his afterimage shredded her and he began making his way into the shelter's impromptu entrance. Taylor cursed.

Twenty percent… hopefully that could do something, although she was doubtful.

Taylor sprinted forwards, and barely made it, managing to punch Leviathan's remaining foot. The Endbringer didn't lose its balance, even as a few feet of flesh was stripped off. It didn't seem particularly bothered by missing a foot, either…

Unfortunately, Leviathan wasn't focused on her, and stepped into the shelter.

Then, a beam of green light shot down, and Leviathan flinched, turning to face the new threat, even as he absently flicked his tail through the hole in the shelter.

What little she could see was mostly red…

Taylor bit down on her tongue and looked away. At least some of the people in there were still alive, so saving them was her first priority.

Leviathan leapt up towards the person who'd disrupted it, and Taylor placed herself in the way of it's tail, bringing herself back to thirty three percent. A bit more and she could do some serious damage.

 _Renewal deceased, KG-11. Renewal up, KG-11._

Her armband helpfully chimed.

She didn't recognise the Hero or Heroine who'd shot the beam, but they called out to her as they dodged.

"We have to get it away from the shelter!"

No, REALLY?

"We need to stall until the others get here!" They continued, once again stating the obvious. Taylor resisted the urge to growl. The rain was almost deafening, and the cape was shouting loud enough to be heard over it. If they had that level of energy it should be used for the fight.

Another beam shot out, only for Leviathan to twist out of the way, sending a whip of water at them, which they dodged. The cape started flying away, and Leviathan leapt after them.

That time, the cape didn't dodge. But they'd bought enough time for a few of the others to arrive. Namely, Alexandria, who rammed into Leviathan like a train. Leviathan stumble, it's tail whipping out and bisecting two other fliers who'd been flying towards him.

 _Cardinal deceased, KG-10. Black Rose deceased, KG-10. Atom Smasher deceased, KG-10._

Taylor flinched away as a splatter of blood landed nearby. She neither needed, nor wanted, to see that, so instead she focused on Leviathan. Leviathan, who'd done similar things, caused this much destruction, at least once a year for years.

Fuck. That. It needed to go down. She was sick of death.

Taylor started running after the fight, which was still gradually being dragged away from the shelter. There… weren't many capes present, probably about seven… make that six, she thought with a grimace.

 _Penance deceased, KG-9._

She wanted to think it was because so many of the capes couldn't get here in time, but there had definitely been more movers than were present. A lot more. It was depressing.

Taylor shook the thought from her head and pulled out the crossbow. Leviathan was moving too quickly, and she couldn't spare enough charge to catch him… if she was hoping to still do any damage. Hopefully there'd be another wave soon.

She put her charge into the bolt and shot it at the beast. The bolt hit Leviathan's remaining leg, and buried itself far enough that it wasn't visible. Leviathan didn't seem to notice.

Then, Taylor's Armband chimed, sending a general message to everyone.

" _Everyone, regroup. We don't stand a chance fighting him like we are now. I'll hold off Leviathan for a as long as I can."_

Was that… Armsmaster? Apparently it was, because a familiar blue suit of armour fell into view, dropped by a flier, and without hesitating, he began sprinting towards the Endbringer. As she watched, he pulled both Halberds from behind his back. One of them seemingly caught fire, the rain instantly evaporating when it touched the faint blue outline of the blade.

Even knowing he was a pro, Taylor still felt a stab of concern when the fliers almost immediately left, Alexandria only staying a fraction of a second longer.

Leviathan lunged towards Armsmaster, now his only opponent, swiping a massive claw at the Hero. It almost hit. But at the last second, Armsmaster turned his sprint into a skid, barely avoiding the fist, and holding out his blue headed halberd.

With a violent burst of blood, one of Leviathan's fingers came _off_ , turning to a grey dust.

It flinched backwards slightly, before whipping it's tail slightly, letting the afterimage fly towards him. Armsmaster flung his other halberd at the water, and pressed a button the moment it touched. Both the halberd and the water froze in time.

That… that was just bullshit. He'd figured out a way to mimic Clockblocker's power with technology… such bullshit.

After a second, the time status dropped, and the water fell to the ground, while Armsmaster's halberd was reeled back to him. Even as he grabbed it, Armsmaster pressed another button, and a grappling hook shot out and yanked him above a sweeping attack from Leviathan, bringing him up to it's knee height. Armsmaster swiped with the blue button, leaving a huge cut in the flesh.

Leviathan lunged forwards, stopped, and then lunged again, leaving both his echo and himself hurtling towards the Hero.

Armsmaster leaped higher than any human should be capable of, using his grappling hook to boost himself further, and successfully clearing the afterimage. Then, while mid-air, managed to manoeuvre himself around a claw swipe. Finally, he retracted and shot his hook again, reeling himself through Leviathan's legs. As he did so, he swiped at the tail, dragging his halberd through.

Almost ten metres of tail were partially turned to the same grey ash which briefly obscured Armsmaster.

Leviathan whipped his tail at Armsmaster, who leaned back on his knees to dodge it, and swiped upwards with the blurry blue halberd. Another chunk of tail was turned to grey dust. The moment the tail was passed, Armsmaster raised his blue halberd to the afterimage, which promptly evaporated.

Then, Leviathan turned to run. Armsmaster's grappling hook shot out, and the chain froze mid-air. When Leviathan ran into it, the beast received a cut opposite the one Narwhal had given it, and blood sprayed.

The hook and chain didn't even budge, despite Leviathan's strength.

Leviathan began to fall, and immediately, the chain briefly went slack, before Armsmaster reeled himself in.

Upon arrival, Armsmaster made two rapid slashes with the blue halberd, each pouting blood, before using his other halberd's grappling hook to drag himself away, managing to pull himself out of reach of Leviathan's violent response.

Leviathan paused, then swiped a claw through the air. Armsmaster parried the afterimage as almost an afterthought.

Leviathan began charging, and Armsmaster fired his grappling hook forwards, freezing it. Leviathan ran through it, punching a hole clean through the it's right shoulder. The Endbringer continued, uncaring, even as it's slight swaying motions tore the wound further, only worsened by it's missing foot. While the injury didn't seem to bother it, it ran in a strange manner.

Armsmaster let the chain go slack, and dived to the side as it reeled in, avoiding Leviathan's attack, before using the recently returned grappling hook to drag him back under the afterimage, driving the blue halberd into Leviathan's leg. A quick hop dodged the next attack, and Armsmaster managed to almost completely remove a second finger.

As Armsmaster reeled himself backwards, Leviathan stopped, touching it's injuries and standing still.

"Finally afraid? I'm glad. Hopefully, I can make you feel the same way all of your victims have… even if only a little," Armsmaster said frostily.

Finally, Taylor heard her armband chime. It was a voice she quickly recognised as belonging to Alexandria.

" _All capes prepared, sending reinforcements."_

Deciding to take that as her cue, Taylor leapt forwards towards Leviathan, even as Armsmaster began backing off.

For a moment, Taylor thought things might actually go well. Dozens of capes were charging forwards. Those still alive were either tough enough to take a hit, fast enough to avoid it, or experienced enough to not mess up.

A veritable wave of lasers and bullets and beams rained down on the monster, almost on par with the one at the start of the fight, deafening even the roar of the rain. A few of the faster capes made it to melee range and began striking at Leviathan, who was fighting back almost… clumsily. His attacks were easily dodged, and he was having 'trouble' avoid the attacks on him. Apparently, the missing foot had started bothering him.

Only Taylor and one other were hit, and only she'd suffered any kind of serious damage. Which was because she'd actively tried to.

There was no way Armsmaster had injured it enough to slow it down. He'd done massive damage… probably the most damage ever done to an Endbringer. But losing a leg hadn't slowed it down, nor had losing a chunk of its torso. The fact that it was miraculously weakening now was too good to be true.

Taylor heard a louder than normal rustling of water, and quickly realised what it was. Another wave, far faster than the others, although considerably smaller. Whatever defences in place were working well.

 _Wave incoming_.

Her Armband announced. Either the shielding capes didn't notice, weren't able to react in time, or were already down. As it was, two flimsy shields and a wave of metal blades rushed upwards, and the wave crashed into the capes from behind. For the second time, her armband simply announced heavy casualties.

The last thing Taylor saw before the wave hit her was Leviathan turning to run further in the city while they were distracted.

The wave crashed into her, stinging considerably less than usual, and shifting her back a few feet, where it hit her again, then a third and fourth time. On the fifth, the wave hurt, but didn't kill her, having lost a lot of force.

Taylor checked her charge, which was at sixty two percent, and scowled, looking around futilely for Leviathan. The rain limited visibility far too much for her to see anything, having started to fall more and more heavily. Earlier, she'd been able to make out a city block with relative clarity, but now she could barely see five feet in front of her.

She checked her wristband, but it didn't know where Leviathan was. Given she'd run the wrong way last time, it would be best to wait for the beasts position this time.

 _Losses are as follows: Kaiser, Ballistic, Valence, Armeth, Weast Beast, Deceased Pond, Bling, Renewal, Renewal, Flare, Glory Girl, Sol, Lady Photon, Catch, Renewal, Aegis, Payload, Tango, Owain Dark, Renewal, Bristol, Arlen, Cleft, Duchess…_

The names continued, on and on, listing almost three dozen dead. Or down.

They REALLY should clarify.

Finally, the… hopefully not death toll, ended.

 _Phalanx, and Armsmaster._

Taylor felt a stab of rage.

 _Leviathan spotted, LM-7_.

The moment she figured out which direction that was, Taylor took off at a sprint, moving as quickly as she could without using her charge. As she watched, the blip that represented Leviathan kept covering ground, heading in a straight line towards a seemingly random place, where whatever his target was, lay.

Much to her dismay, she was barely gaining any ground on Leviathan… until the Endbringer stopped running, at an unidentified building, which was apparently what it was after.

As she approached, she thought the rain was heavying even further, but as she got closer she realised it was the sound of metal being shredded.

She corrected herself. Leviathan wasn't going for the building… he was going for something under it, judging from the speed he was digging.

Taylor scowled and began running at him. The bolt she'd shot really hadn't done much, and had only penetrated instead of exploding. Her fists seemed to be more effective. And she needed every edge she could get.

As soon as Taylor got within Leviathan's range, his tail lashed out and bisected her twice. The second, his afterimage, was considerably less painful, but still brought her charge up to eighty three.

Practically ignoring her, Leviathan continued tearing up the building, but when she tried to approach he slashed at her. Against most people, that would stop them in their tracks, but for her, that helped her.

Taylor began pressing forwards, even as Leviathan finally tore through the concrete. Water and debris collapsed into the new tunnel. It was a rather extensive tunnel system, judging how much poured in during the brief pause in Leviathan's digging, and the way the ground trembled.

She jumped forwards and Leviathan spun, bisecting her with it's claws, and bringing her charge up to ninety. The next swipe brought her to ninety two… the difference in charge levels was really insane, and kind of illogical, really. What was the point in her power represented the charge as a percentage, if there was so much diversity in the requirements.

One final swipe brought her to ninety three, and she finally got close enough to Leviathan that she could feasibly attack, just in time to be buried in a pile of rubble as the building above the tunnel collapsed fully.

Taylor growled in frustration as she found herself a few metres further back, with a huge pile of rubble between her and Leviathan. It didn't last for long, when the Endbringer jolted forwards, a massive spray of water sending the rubble flying into the distance.

Taylor began moving again, only for something cold to rub against her back, causing her to freeze in surprise. She reached up and grabbed it, her hand brushing metal. Taylor pulled the polearm off her back, where it had somehow attached itself.

Oh… right… Armsmaster.

Taylor growled in frustration and leaped forwards. She didn't even know if Armsmaster was dead or alive. She wasn't sure if knowing would be better or worse.

She leaped up over a chunk of rubble, even as Leviathan started digging again, and cut her down with his tail, and afterimage.

Ninety five percent.

There wasn't anywhere to properly land, though, and a piece of rebar went through one of her eyes, because she hadn't been paying attention. It was painful, but she kept moving, kicking off again towards Leviathan, who once again swatter her down, this time with a wave of water.

Ninety six.

Finally having clear the rubble, she began moving at a sprint again, ignoring the bad terrain, and the pain of her ankle twisting when she stepped badly. Leviathan spun in a full circle, driving it's arm through her chest, while simultaneously hitting her with a pile of rubble which it flung upwards. Apparently, what it wanted was deeper than it had first thought.

Taylor steadied herself, and ran at the monster again, once again being met by both rubble, water, and the Endbringer's tail.

Ninety seven.

She was gaining ground, if very slowly, but Leviathan was also getting closer and closer to reaching it's target. She had no idea what it was, but generally Endbringers targeted dangerous capes who were likely to be able to beat them, or otherwise help humanity.

Leviathan's tail swiped up towards her, and even as it hit her, she wiped his tail with the halberd. The blue halberd met absolutely no resistance, and she felt it make almost a foot's progress before Leviathan's tail shifted her back a foot.

However, Leviathan seemed pissed off she'd hurt it, and spared a tad more attention to killing her, slicing her twice with it's tail, as well as flinging her with it's arm just gently enough to not kill her on impact. Thankfully, a stray bit of rubble ended her almost immediately, so she didn't end too far away.

Ninety eight.

Another rubble shower, a minor wave, four more cuts from it's tail, and a full bodied after shadow lunge, and Taylor was within ten feet of the Endbringer, even now still digging.

Ninety nine.

Finally, Leviathan seemed to have reached it's target, because instead of digging with it's claws, it began filling the area beneath it with wave after wave of water, opening the roof further and slicing in rapid succession.

The ground began shaking, even as Leviathan's shadow cut her a few more times to delay her. It even kicked out behind itself, somehow balancing with no legs, and timing a few of it's slashes so that it could slice her without losing time. Almost as an afterthought.

Taylor let out an incoherent noise of rage, now almost in arms reach of Leviathan.

There was an inhuman roar of anger and fear, which definitely didn't belong to Leviathan, coming from just beneath where Leviathan was digging. Taylor absently wondered what was making the noise.

Taylor began inching forwards, Leviathan slashing at her again and again. Taylor finally caught up, close enough that she was confident she could reach the Endbringer with the tip of the halberd. Two more steps and she could hit him properly.

Leviathan made one more swipe.

Taylor felt an uncontrollable wave of energy pouring through her, surging into her bones and her clothing, as well as Armsmaster's halberd. It was a painful pressure, which hurt to contain, and Taylor felt like if she didn't release it, she'd go insane from the building pressure within.

Leviathan made one more swipe, as it broke through the ceiling, exposing a weird lump of flesh, which was immediately covered in water. The pressure built massively, becoming almost agonising. Taylor made the final step needed to be in range.

One hundred percent.

The pressure was agony; always building, not ceasing for a moment. It was someone had replaced her veins with electric cables, set it on fire, crushed her, frozen her and torn her apart all at once.

Taylor let out a scream of pain, as she poured the energy into the halberd, leaping up, avoiding Leviathan's afterimage. She slashed upwards, and the energy left her in a violent burst, absolutely blinding, accompanied by an earth shattering boom that ruptured her eardrums. Taylor couldn't see anything, but the rain had stopped, although a moment later she was showered in blood.

She was shivering, but relaxing at the lack of pressure. As brief as it had been, she'd never felt anything more painful. Nothing even held a candle to it.

The light covering the area was a light bluish white, and was accompanied by a wave of heat. Not enough to actually be hot, but enough that the persistent chill in her bones she hadn't even noticed faded, warmth having been restored.

It was one of those things on a rainy day you didn't notice until it was gone, but she was feeling so much better than she had.

Finally, the light subsided enough for her to open her eyes. As she was still partially blinded, she stabbed herself with the halberd to help her vision recover faster.

Immediately, all of the dots faded, and her vision clear.

Before her, was what could best be described as a crater. The weird lump of flesh that had been Leviathan's target nowhere to be seen, although it could easily be buried under the metres of rubble that hadn't been there before. As she'd thought, the rain had stopped completely, and the clouds were clearing up, revealing the sun.

The city, almost to the edge of her vision more than two kilometres away, was completely gone. In it's place was nothing but dirt, and miniscule fragments of what had once been buildings.

Leviathan… the only thing that remained was an outline of grey bones, and a weird crystal, which had been partially shattered. Much to her surprise and dismay, the bones were moving... just as fast as Leviathan had when it'd still had its body. After a second, it was gone.

* * *

 **So... hope you enjoyed the chapter?**


	20. Prelude

**So... I'm back! Assessment is finally winding down, so things should go back to normal soon. Hopefully you enjoy!**

* * *

Taylor fidgeted nervously as she walked through the hallways, filled with impromptu rooms for the patients, most only separated by a curtain. More than half of them were cordoned off with a colored tape, and the half that didn't all contained unconscious or wounded capes handcuffed to their beds. It was kind of creepy, honestly.

She could sort of understand not wanting the injured to wander around, especially after learning the sealed areas were capes with their masks off, but she imagined a villain… heck, even most heroes, waking up handcuffed would assume the Protectorate was screwing them over and try to escape. Hopefully nothing like that happened any time soon.

A few of the capes were familiar faces… well, masks, but most she had no clue who they were. Why were they even out in the hallways like this, anyway? Maybe civilian injuries had taken up all of the rooms, or was Panacea doing a speed run or something? Maybe helped by the other… what, three healers who'd shown up? She could see that as logical… but it was still a weird setup.

Although there _were_ way too many injured to take care of properly. It was kind of horrible, really. So many dead… and still so many more injured. If she hadn't seen the gathering before the fight, she honestly probably wouldn't have believed this many capes would ever be in one city. Logically, she knew there were only around sixty to eighty, but the clustered setup made it look like a lot more.

One of the capes she passed, an androgynous suit of armor with a visor, turned to face her with their head tilted as she passed. One of their legs were missing, and there was a… well, what had once _been_ a white sheet wrapped around the stump. The detached leg sat beside them on once side, and a silver lance on the other, partially going through their arm and back.

According to the color coding, she was still in the 'moderate' level priority for healing.

Apparently not just the unconscious, because some poor capes would have to be awake while dealing with their horrible injuries. Although, the she passed a section with a nurse who was injecting something into a twitching cape. The cape stopped twitching. Either poison, which was unlikely, or a tranquilizer. That would actually explain just how so many capes were unconscious.

There were a few Nurses… or Doctors, she wasn't sure, patrolling up and down the corridor at a fast pace, and even as she watched, a few of them ducked quickly in and out of some of the blocked sections. Glad to see the staff were making sure the capes' situations didn't deteriorate.

The coloring system changes as she passed the halfway point of the hallway, to the 'serious' cases. Almost all of them were hidden behind curtains, and the few that weren't were all being attended too by nurses, and one was in the process of being healed by a stone-faced Panacea. Gods, she'd probably had to attend Endbringer fights before… Taylor had even more sympathy for her, and any other Endbringer veteran. That must be tough, having to regularly see this kind of horror.

She caught a glimpse of one of the patients, and turned her eyes steadfastly forwards as she struggled not to throw up. Nope. Just… nope. That was nowhere near enough of a torso for her tastes, and watching the holes repair themselves was even more horrifying. So that's what regenerators looked like in action.

She was glad her injuries never stuck, for a reason other than just… well, not being killed.

How had all of this been set up in the… what, seventeen minutes since the end of the fight? The logistics didn't make any sense, and they definitely couldn't have set this up WHILE they fight was happening, because that would be horribly unsafe.

Taylor shook her head to clear her thoughts. No, she was here for a reason, she couldn't let herself wimp out or get distracted. Well… her 'mission' wasn't necessarily _important_ , but she was still here for a reason, and that reason was not to break down bawling from the stress and horror, nor was it to throw up at the sight of some of the capes' injuries.

She shivered, and continued at a slightly faster pace, actively staying out of the way of the hurried nurses.

Finally reaching the end of the hallway, she stopped in front of the door, sighing nervously. Would they object to her bothering them? She probably wasn't supposed to be visiting people anyways, and whatever administration was there probably wouldn't want someone they didn't know they could trust asking for directions to injured capes who were unable to fight back.

So many possible problems… but it was still worth a shot. Even if she _didn't_ have to give back Armsmaster's halberd… assuming he was alive, to him, or if he wasn't, to the Protectorate… she _had_ to know if he was alive or no. It was killing her. As weird as it was, and although he probably didn't feel the same, she'd begun to think of his as… a friend. And wasn't that depressing? The person who was her closest 'friend' was someone who she'd spoken to a few dozen times, and she didn't know the name of.

Taylor shook her head. Behind the door were mutterings, so there was clearly more than one person in the room. Hopefully, a Protectorate cape who knew her, or recognized Armsmaster's weapon. It looked nothing like his normal halberd, so she doubted anyone who didn't know him well, and hadn't been at the fight would be able to tell.

She knocked gently, and the sounds of speaking immediately cut off. Taylor stood there for a few awkward seconds, before finally whoever was inside replied.

"Come in."

The voice was familiar, and it took her a second to place it as Legend, although he sounded pretty pained. Had he not been healed? She would've thought that an injured member of the Triumvirate would've been the absolute _highest_ priority, but Legend could've prioritized others, or just known his power would let him heal on his own.

She awkwardly opened the door and let herself through, taking a moment to scan the room. Legend was floating about a foot off the ground, to one side of a desk, and even though he wasn't touching the ground he looked like he was about to collapse. His costume was torn in multiple places, and there was a splatter of either dirt or blood on one of his cheeks.

The room was mostly barren, bar the desk and a single chair, clearly thrown up in a hurry. The other person present…

Well, she actually didn't recognize them. That was… a bit awkward, especially considering she recognized what they _looked_ like, but couldn't pin their name. Probably the leader of a Protectorate branch. She hoped, desperately, she didn't make a fool of herself.

"How can we help?" The cape said, their voice going through some kind of filter and making it completely androgynous. Taylor wasn't fully sure if they were male or female, and mentally decided to not use _any_ gender terms until she fixed that lack of knowledge, in case she insulted them.

How to phrase it…

"Uh… sorry to bother, I was just wondering if you could point me to Armsmaster. I have something I need to give back to him," She said, holding out the halberd, as awkward as it made her feel to be asking a member of the _Triumvirate_ for directions.

Armsmaster was alive. He _had_ to be. So she would work on that assumption.

"Armsmaster is currently in no state to receive visitors," The cape said, curtly, sounding angry even through their lack of emotion. Well that was rather rude, although you could understand them wanting to protect a comrade.

"If you desire to-"

Legend cut them off with a hand, and when he next spoke, he sounded weary. "That's enough, Moribund. It's fine. Could you give us a moment? We can continue this conversation shortly."

The cape… Moribund, although the name didn't ring any bells, and how the hell did a member of the Protectorate get the name ' _Moribund'_? Seemed annoyed at the response, and let out a growl before stalking aggressively out of the room.

The door closed, and Legend turned to her, letting out a breath. "I apologise for my comrade's behaviour… today's been rough, on all of us."

Taylor nodded. "It… yeah."

"Armsmaster isn't too heavily injured, but that's only in comparison to most. Today was pretty bad, even for Endbringer fights. Before you go, since you were the last in combat, did you see what Leviathan's target was?"

Taylor nodded slowly. "I didn't get a good look at them, but they were a weird mound of flesh with a human torso on top. They were in a hidden underground room, so Leviathan dug through about a hundred feet of rock to get to them, but I… well, I interrupted Leviathan before they could do any serious damage, which you probably felt. Sorry about that, by the way… I really didn't know that would happen."

"So that's what that was. I won't say it's fine, considering the damage whatever it was you did to the city, but you had no way of knowing what would happen. Besides, considering the damage Leviathan had already done, to be honest… the city would probably have been condemned anyway. I know that might not be much consolation, but it is what it is."

Taylor remained silent for a moment, unsure of what to say, before continuing. "I'm not sure if they survived or not. But they could've."

Legend pondered for a moment. "It's probably best to continue this conversation with Armsmaster, then. He should be conscious, and as much as I want to stay to help out, I can't. Even though Brockton Bay will probably be condemned, he's in charge, and he might be able to help you check. There's actually surprisingly little capes can do in Endbringer aftermaths, because most don't have powers set for search and rescue."

Legend nodded towards the door. "He's the fifth to your left, but check to see if he's conscious before entering. As you go, could you send Moribund back in?"

Evidently they had a separate section for Protectorate capes, or at least high ranking ones, if Armsmaster was only mildly – comparatively – injured.

She nodded. "Sorry for taking up your time."

"It's fine."

With the clear dismissal, Taylor left, gesturing back for the cape who stood motionless outside to enter. They walked past without a word, although didn't bump her, which she'd kind of expected.

Taylor began counting doors, and stopped at the fifth curtain, which was partially closed. Should she knock? Wait, there were no doors.

"Armsmaster, it's, ah, Renewal. Can I come in?"

She heard a grunt in reply, which she _assumed_ was a yes. She cocked the curtain open and peeked through, preparing to jump back and drop it if he wasn't wearing a mask. He was, even if his armour looked considerably more mangled than usual. Bar the left arm, which was, ah, missing. Why were so many people missing limbs? Was Leviathan actually really jealous, and wanted everyone to feel what he did?

She focused back on the matter at hand, as Armsmaster looked up to her, from his impromptu seat. That was actually a rather clever use of pillows, and she could relate, lying down wasn't for her either.

Armsmaster opened his mouth to say something, then visible stopped himself and took a deep breath.

"What's the matter?"

Straight to the point, which was good. Although judging from his face, he was in pain, as much as he tried to not show it. She should probably be quick then.

First things first, she held his halberd out to him, which he took and laid on his lap.

"Two things. First, returning and thanking you for that, it did some serious damage to Leviathan."

Armsmaster smiled a hollow smile. "Glad to hear it was put to good use. I knew you were a good choice."

He took a moment to study it.

"Perfect condition, better than it was in before you got it. Seems your power works on tinkertech after all. I'll have to examine it once I… well, have the means to do so. Now, your other reason? Did you find Leviathan's target?"

Taylor sighed. "Yes. It was a weird monstrosity of meat, with the torso of a woman on top. Leviathan didn't attack them for long, and though they were buried in rubble, I believe they could be alive. But… that's not what I wanted to talk to you about."

Armsmaster cocked his head, and Taylor felt a slight wave of nervousness and adrenalin.

"It's… your halberd worked _really_ well in conjunction with my powers. Enough to cause a crater. But… It also did more damage to Leviathan than has been done, accumulatively, throughout every fight he's been in."

Armsmaster frowned. "That sounds good, but I'm sensing a 'but'."

"I stripped it to the _bone_! And it wasn't even slowed down! It had no skin left, no internal organs, just bone and a weird crystal where the base of it's tail had been. It ran away at full speed. I don't think Endbringers CAN be killed!"

Why was her face wet? Her voice was also a bit shaky, and things were a bit blurry. Was she shivering?

She felt a hand… well, gauntlet, on her shoulder, and she looked up. Armsmaster was visible pained by leaning forwards, but apparently he thought comforting her was important enough to deal with it. Taylor felt herself stop shaking, even as the tears continued to flow under her mask, and she sniffled.

"Hey. It's fine. Today was your first Endbringer fight, and you got closer to killing it than anyone else has so far. And besides, that crystal seems like an attractive target. People expect Leviathan to had human weaknesses because he's humanoid, but it would make sense for any weakness to be hidden in the thickest part of it's body. And even if it's a bust, when Endbringers are hurt badly enough, and this definitely qualifies, they take a while to recover. You've bought us time for the next fight, and a few extra weeks matters, no matter what."

"T-thanks."

Armsmaster leaned back against his seat. "Thank you for bringing it to my attention, though, you made the right choice. Right now, morale is more important than anything else… if you wouldn't mind, it would probably be for the best to… bend the truth a bit."

Taylor nodded. It made sense. "If people know how badly Leviathan was hurt, and that we've found a potential weakness, that will inspire hope. But for now, the general populous… and most capes, don't need to know how little it was affected by it's injuries."

"Exactly. If today hadn't gone so poorly… yourself excluded, it'd possibly be better to be truthful, but too many people will be scared when they learn just how extensive the losses were. It's for the best we give them something to look forwards to, even if it turns out to be false."

Armsmaster pondered for a moment.

"Hopefully, we can rescue Leviathan's target. Endbringers usually target capes who can do serious damage to them. Hopefully they can survive until we're back on our feet. Even if it was just locals being healed, it would take a few hours for everyone to recover properly, and even then we'd need a bit of sleep and down time to recover… If I push it, we should be able to start Search and Rescue properly as early as tomorrow morning. Do you remember where they were well enough to lead us there?"

Taylor nodded. "It should be easy enough to find, even without me, because of the crater. But unless someone shifts a whole load of rubble before I get there, I should be able to find the exact spot fairly easily."

"Could you show up here tomorrow, then?"

She paused. It might be a bit of a concern with her dad… if he was still alive, although she was fairly sure Leviathan hadn't broken into the shelter he would've used, she'd probably have to tell him she was a cape, and… work things out.

Armsmaster seemed to see her worry and hesitance. "If you can't, that's fine. I'm sure we can-"

"No, it should be fine," Taylor interrupted quietly. She hoped it was. "I'll see you tomorrow, then?"

Armsmaster nodded. "Before you go, where'd you get the arbalest?"

Taylor was confused for a moment, before she realised he was talking about the weird crossbow thing. She'd completely forgotten about it.

"I borrowed it from a downed cape. They were rescued, and should've survived, but I can't really give much description beyond they dressed in purple and were female. I think they were a kind of striker? Either way, she could seriously hurt Leviathan with whatever it was she was doing."

Armsmaster nodded. "If memory serves, there's a Ward who could fit the bill. She's from out of town, so I'm not completely sure, but if it isn't hers, I can ask around and find who it belongs to. Want to leave it with me?"

"Sure," Taylor nodded, placing the crossb- Arbalest down on Armsmaster's bed, and set the strange quiver like pack besides it. "Get well soon," She said jokingly.

"See you in the morning."

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 **Hope it wasn't too short, the next ones should be a bit longer.**

 **... Dear gods, THREE PAGES of reviews?!**


	21. From the Ashes

**Fixed the chapter fourteen thing, finally. Gods I'm an idiot sometimes. Hope you enjoy the new chapter!**

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"It's just over here," Taylor called out, making sure to be loud enough for all of the assembled capes to hear. Not that it was much of an issue, really, given that there was about ten of them. Although she could understand why so few had signed up. Considering the casualties, most of the capes would want to be with their loved ones or family.

For her, even if she hadn't been one of the ones organising it she would've been there. Not because of a sense of duty, but…

It beat waiting nervously in a couch for her father to come home. He was going to come home… he had to. He just hadn't been able to yet, for whatever reason.

He wasn't dead. He wasn't.

The distraction helped. Taylor idly wondered if any were in the same boat as her. Taking a glance at the stone faced Glory Girl, she decided that yes, there were.

Taylor sighed as she finally made it to where she remembered the Case 53 had been. The moment she thought of it, she started blushing in embarrassment, remembering how she'd described them to Armsmaster. That had been… _really_ insensitive.

"This the spot?" Armsmaster asked quietly from besides her. She gave a subtle nod, and Armsmaster turned to address the assembled capes. He raised his voice and spoke. "Thank you all, once again, for coming."

'All' was probably a bit generous, to be honest. The assembled capes consisted of Glory Girl, Legend, the majority of the ENE Protectorate, although lacking Triumph and Velocity, her, and one out of town villain. Still, she could understand what he meant. Volunteer work the day after an Endbringer fight wouldn't exactly be top priority for most, which just made it all the more surprising Legend had shown up.

Although to be fair, previously that would've been an amazing amount of capes to see in one place. Her perspective was just a bit skewed after the massive array that showed up for Leviathan.

Especially considering the fact that they had been told to expect the cape they were looking for was probably dead, meaning the entire premise of the 'mission' could easily be worthless. Well, except for giving the cape a proper burial, and letting any friends or allies they may have had that they were dead.

Oh, right, Armsmaster was still talking. She tried to pay attention to what he was saying.

"… Let's get started."

Never mind then.

Battery immediately blurred forwards and moved a large chunk of rubble, what looked like the majority of a wall, out of the way, and managed a few other relatively large bits before coming to a halt, and beginning to recharge. Assault and Glory girl stepped up to take up the slack, while the rest of the capes began moving bits of rubble around, with Legend breaking the largest chunks into smaller pieces with surprising care.

Taylor looked around a place for her to start, and then began moving rock, depressed by how little she could actually do. Sure, she was matching Armsmaster in his strength enhancing power armour, but with a decent amount of charge she could do a lot more. But it would still be really awkward to ask a cape to take a moment to violently kill her, and on her own she wouldn't be able to gain a consequential amount fast enough for it to result in a net gain of time.

The next piece of rubble she turned over had a small, brownish red stain that was almost certainly blood. Taylor quickly flung it away. At least that confirmed they were in the right spot.

Thankfully, the next few chunks only had a few tiny spots.

Battery zoomed back in and took quite a few chunks of rock with her before stopping to recharge again, and soon a pile of rubble began to form as they all kept digging. It was tedious. It was hard. But I was definitely distracting, and that was what she needed right then.

Within about twenty minutes, they finally found the chamber… thing the cape had been in, which was surprisingly intact, even though the majority was filled with rubble. The capes digging quickly shifted over, and began being considerable more careful.

"If you can hear me," Armsmaster said loudly, "We're getting you out of there."

Probably best to cover his bases, she supposed. The last thing they wanted to do was surprise them. The cape could be alive; surviving rubble would be easier than surviving Leviathan, even if only briefly. There wasn't any response.

The out of town villain, who up until then hadn't really done anything, interrupted.

"Definitely sensing a lifeform down there, and it's beating steady. Whoever they are, they're alive, and not suffering any life threatening injuries."

Huh. That actually seemed like a useful power… although she didn't really get how they'd use that in a fight. Why'd they become a villain, anyway? That sort of power would be more useful as a rogue, helping with search and rescue after disasters or fights. Then again, that would get fairly boring pretty quickly, and she could understand the drive to fight. She hadn't never been a violent person, but the moment she knew she had powers she went out looking for one.

That was kind of weird, actually. Sure, she'd been looking to help people rather than just beat people up, but she couldn't say the fights weren't entertaining, in a sick kind of way.

Taylor shook herself to focus as the rest of the capes resumed shifting rubble, and began pitching in.

Glory Girl lifted a rather large chunk of rock. There was a flash of movement, and she was gone. Not even a yell, or any audible kind of warning. Taylor froze, and the chunk of rubble she'd been holding dropped. What?

A few of the other capes reacted more competently, leaping out of the way of the rubble.

"We are not your enemy! Stand down!" Armsmaster yelled loudly.

The rubble shifted violently, and there was a scream as the Case 53 exploded outwards from the floor. Glory Girl was nowhere to be seen.

Strangely, the human torso on top seemed… asleep, or unconscious, yet the rest of the body began moving almost immediately. The lower half was grievously injured, but even as she watched the wounds healed themselves rapidly.

Now that she had a better look at it, the lower half was even stranger than she thought. A mishmash of limbs and gigantic mouths, how it even moved she didn't know.

Apparently it could see them, too, because the mouths let out a screech and began charging towards them. The human torso on op jolted slightly, but remained asleep and muttered something Taylor couldn't make out.

Also, now was _really_ not the time for her to get lost in her thoughts, given that they were running right at her in a way that was _very clearly_ aggressive. Apparently the cape's power gave them some automatic defense system, or something. End result was it was now a fight, and the cape had entirely ignored Glory Girl's invulnerability.

Taylor coiled her legs and leapt up and over the cape. Maybe if she touched their face, they would wake up?

Unfortunately, a weird tentacle like thing shot out and grabbed her ankle. It started pulling her towards one of the mouths.

Shit.

Well, at least she knew what'd happen to Glory Girl, but if that were the case, she _should've_ been fine. Best not test it.

Taylor spun herself, using the tentacle as leverage to draw her knife, and used the small amount of charge she had to cure the tentacle. One of the mouths let out a low groan of pain, even as the body began lunging for her. Before she could touch the ground, or the mouths could swallow her, she felt someone grab her aggressively by the waist and she was suddenly about fifty meters to the right.

Battery set her down on the ground, and Taylor stabbed herself to reset the damage. It was kind of disturbing how familiar she was getting with sliding her knife between ribs. She knew all the weak points from practice, and she could easily reach the heart.

"You okay?" Battery asked hurriedly.

Taylor nodded. "Thanks for the save."

In the sudden distance, Taylor could hear Armsmaster call out once again for her to stand down, as the rest of the capes finally finished reacting.

…Had it really only been about two seconds?

Either way, they were ready to fight the cape, and judging by the complete lack of acknowledgement to Armsmaster's words, and the charge they were beginning, they would have to.

As if on cue, Legend's hands began to glow, but the out of town villain interrupted him.

"Your flier's still alive and in there! Be careful!"

"Where exactly?" Legend replied curtly, his face falling into a slight frown.

The out of town cape sounded exasperated. "I can't get a good read on her! All I can say for sure is there's three separate lifeforms; the torso on top, the rest of the body and a signal that matches your flier on the inside. It's like the whole thing is one giant heart, but at the same time not. Just be careful!"

The cape began bearing down on the group even as Taylor began making her way over, and Battery started to charge up.

Legend fired off an array of lasers at the various limbs the cape was using for support. Almost all of the mouths let out an inhuman cry of pain, even as the body toppled and the… legs, although most of them weren't actual legs, began to regrow. The three remaining mouths began to… vomit?

The capes nearby scattered as tentacles began shooting out at them.

"Sensing more lifeforms that look almost the same as your flier, but the original's still in there. I'm guessing clones of some kind," The out of town cape… she really needed to learn his name as some stage, called out.

As if on cue, the three mouths finally spat out whatever they were… yeah, she couldn't think of what to call it but regurgitating, so she'd have to go with that.

Amounts the regurgitation were a few malformed chunks of meat, a few of which seemed _alive_ and were _writhing_ and… no, focus.

There were also three naked ladies. Taylor fought the urge to cover her eyes even as she blushed. This was a fight, no time for that. As she got closer, she saw they closely resembled Glory Girl, although one of them had black hair rather than blonde, and… blonde eyes? Not a color she thought was possible.

… Still not the time, damn it! Why was she so distractible!

The black haired one and one of the others took a moment to orient themselves, even as the Case 53 began getting to its feet, with the final one screaming bloody murder and charging the nearby Dauntless, who didn't hesitate.

The Glory Girl clone… thing covered the last few feet with flight, still screaming, whereupon she clanged into a force field which sprung up from Dauntless's shield. He retaliated by stabbing her in the face with his Arclance, triggering his lightning at the same time. She'd though the lance would bounce off, but apparently this Glory Girl wasn't quite as invulnerable as the real one, because the lance buried itself all the way through the head, and the corpse twitched as lightning ran through it.

Dauntless kicked the corpse off of his lance as Taylor recoiled in disgust. Gods, that was horrible. He probably hadn't meant to kill her, judging from the way he was flinching, but still.

"They aren't fully sentient, and that one was empty even by a puppet's standards," The out of town villain… damn it, she was just going to call him Heartbeat. Heartbeat, called out.

Taylor let out a breath. Okay, that would make things a bit easier.

The other normal Glory Girl began charging the villain, as if annoyed he was talking, and took to the air. The black haired one seemed content to watch curiously, gently floating a few feet upwards.

Miss Militia pulled out a big gun, some kind of high caliber rifle, and began to take aim, before jumping away as the Case 53 leapt at her. Shit, she'd completely forgotten.

Assault leapt in the way, kicking one of the tentacles that was reaching out for Miss Militia, before dashing away as the Case 53 focus its attention on him. Good to know it was easily distractible. Heartbeat frantically dodged underneath Glory Girl clone B, who was swinging with reckless abandon.

So… a pretty accurate clone, then, from what she'd seen.

Taylor immediately felt bad for the inner remark, and sped up a bit, managing to get herself between the clone and Heartbeat just as it finally would've landed a punch. The punch went straight through her, painfully, causing her to reset about a foot to the right. Damn, just as well she'd made it.

Taylor checked her charge. Five percent…

"The clones have super strength!" She called out as she ducked in the way of another punch headed for Heartbeat.

There was a noise like thunder as Miss Militia fired, and a bullet bounced off of the Glory Girl clone, although the clone flinched. Taylor punched it in the face just as Miss Militia fired a second shot. Both… went through, and Taylor shut her eyes as blood went everywhere.

A small part of her brain was annoyed she'd have to clean blood off her costume again. The rest of her brain was pissed off at that part, and trying not to panic.

The… uh, former person slumped to the floor, and she turned to face the Case 53. Just in time for it to regurgitate about half a dozen more Glory Girls, even as Armsmaster, Assault and Dauntless desperately cut the tentacles reaching for them, and Legend burned off limbs wherever he could, as well as covering parts in ice that seemed to do a decent job of slowing the Case 53 down.

"Real one's still in there," Heartbeat said, panting heavily.

"Buy me some time!" Armsmaster called, leaping backwards as the other two picked up the slack. He started talking even as he ran away, tapping what she thought was his earpiece. Calling for reinforcements, maybe? If so, he probably wouldn't be successful, given how all the possible reinforcements had been at the Leviathan fight. Hopefully they could get a Dragon suit or another member of the Triumvirate, though.

… She remembered a time when she wouldn't be able to say their names without squealing, let alone casually think of them as possible reinforcements. Being a Hero was weird. Heck, she didn't really have any _reason_ to be able to think like that, maybe she was just desensitized because she'd seen so many famous Heroes yesterday?

Taylor jumped in slight shock as her thought process was cut off when she reset. Probably a good thing, she was still in a fight, and one of the Glory Girls had just hit her.

She felt a wave of fear wash over her, and she rese almost ten meters back, the fear instantly subsiding. So that was Glory Girl's aura? Good to know she was immune to it.

Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Armsmaster running, still talking. Two of the Glory Girls were in his path, and then a second later with a shimmering of blue, and without slowing down, they weren't. Sure, she'd seen the blue, see-through blade cut through Leviathan, but that was still ridiculous.

The blade flickered out. Apparently it was power intensive, which was understandable.

There were another three cracks of thunder, and the Glory Girls chasing Miss Militia lost their heads. That just left Taylor's.

Why couldn't they all be like the strange, non-aggressive black haired one, and just watch them? Sure it would be creepy, but it would be easier.

Thankfully, her clone's aura didn't seem to be working fully, because Taylor was able to approach again. Judging from the way Miss Militia seemed a lot more at ease, it was _just_ hers who'd been having that trouble. Or she assumed so. Armsmaster was _capable_ of fear, she just figured he'd hide it.

The clone swung at her wildly, and Taylor let it hit her, before hitting back with the most of the charge she'd gathered. Her hand broke against the skin, but Taylor felt whatever resistance was their drop, and her follow up strike killed the clone.

Did Glory Girl have some kind of breakable force field, rather than invulnerability? Why had no one told her this? It certainly explained why Miss Militia kept double tapping. Although the fact that she _could_ double tap with an anti-material sniper rifle was a bit ridiculous.

The Case 53 began to vomit again, this time creating almost a dozen intact Glory Girls. Taylor REALLY didn't want to think about the... failed ones any more than possible. Where was it _getting_ all of those chunks of meat? Some of them were still squirming.

"The original almost came out with that group, but not quite. Her heartrate's increasing, so whatever knocked her out seems to be wearing off," Heartbeat called out. A bright bolt shot forwards at him, and he barely moved out of the way.

Great, apparently this group didn't just have Glory Girl's powers, because one of them was shooting lasers, and another created a hard light shield. Hereditary powers, yay. Because fighting Glory Girl wasn't fun enough, they had to fight the rest of New Wave.

Most of them began charging towards the three fighting the Case 53, with a few headed at Miss Militia and the one with the lasers headed at Heartbeat. Taylor moved herself to intercept.

There was a deafening series of bangs from Miss Militia, as she killed as many as she could before the two after her got close enough to worry about. The first she took down with what seemed to be an entire belt from a portable machine gun, but the second's hard light construct seemed to ignore the bullets.

Legend spared a brief moment to dispatch four of the remaining five clones directly helping the Case 53. The last one almost got Assault, but Battery blurred in and tackled him out of the way, killing the clone and then getting back before her charge ran out.

The clone with the lasers, and upon closer inspection slightly green hair, began firing at Taylor. Most of them gave her the equivalent of a light burn, but one tore through her and she reset a moment later, thankfully before they could fire again. Just as well she hadn't let Heartbeat take the hit. She was… fairly sure he wasn't a brute?

In the distance, she heard the Case 53 retch again. Great.

This time, only two fully formed, and one sort of half clone came out. The half one twitched a bit and whined, before the Case 53 accidentally stood on it, and put it out of it's misery. Of the other two, one was unconscious, and… clothed?

"That's her! She's ou- AH!" Heartbeat cried, as Taylor felt one of the lasers go through her. And apparently keep going. Thankfully, no chunks seemed to be missing, so the damage likely wasn't permanent.

With a blur, Battery rescued the unconscious Glory Girl. The clone besides the real one, who had been trying to attack, was dealt with, leaving just the laser, hard light and black haired clones. Once Glory Girl was out of danger, Battery set her down.

Taylor stepped forwards to try to deal with the laser clone, but it nimbly avoided her blows. Joy. Thankfully, Heartbeat didn't seem to be in danger… unless he was already hurt, although Armsmaster was running his way.

Much to her surprise, the black haired clone started flying at her. She would've thought they'd keep neutral. Nonetheless, Taylor mentally braced herself for the hit, only it never came.

Instead, the laser clone dropped to the ground with no head, and the black haired clone stared impassively at it's body, before looking up at Taylor.

Shit, what to say. "Uh, thanks," she settled on. Damn it, she was _not_ very good at talking.

The clone made an attempt at what she thought was a smile, but ended up more like a half grimace, half gasp, and then flew off. A moment later, the Hard Light clone was dead too.

Then the black haired clone made completely see-through clothes out of hard light, which was both funny and alarming. Funny because the clone seemed incredibly satisfied with it's clothes, alarming because apparently they were a Glaistig Uaine type trump.

"Everyone, get clear!" Armsmaster yelled, and the capes all got away from the Case 53 as fast as they could. She didn't blame them. When Tinkers thought something was dangerous, it was usually a whole new kind of dangerous.

The Case 53 was still on their tail, so Armsmaster fired his second… no, first, the second was the blue one… halberd's grappling hook, which arced into the cape's way and froze in time. The Case 53 ran onto it, almost cutting itself entirely in half as the string gave no ground. It let out a bloodcurdling screech.

Battery blurred in and pulled him out of the way, and the grappling line seemed to elongate as they gained distance, even as the cape still struggled to free themselves from the line that ran through it's body, now that it had healed around it.

"You're good!" Armsmaster said, presumable to his microphone, because a moment later a missile streaked past and impacted the cape, only to miss and land about six feet in front of it.

Or so Taylor thought, until it expanded into a cage very much like the one she'd seem Armsmaster use on Lung what felt like so long ago, expect larger and visible stronger.

What the fuck. Tinkers were BULLSHIT. A missile WAS NOT A CAGE.

Taylor sighed.

Armsmaster's grappling line retracted sharply, just in time as a second missile impacted on top of the cage, spraying containment foam all over the bars, and effectively trapping the cape. At least that made some kind of sense from a mechanical standpoint.

Actually, that felt a bit anticlimactic. She'd kind of expected a big explosion…

Although, seeing as how the Cape was apparently asleep, they would both be kind of needless, and murder. It wasn't their fault they'd defended them self while asleep. The cage rattled a bit, but the foam held strong, likely due to sheer volume.

She let out a sigh as she felt the adrenaline wind down. The rest of the capes began making their way to her general vicinity, Battery carrying Glory Girl, who was starting to wake up, and Armsmaster pulling…

She wasn't even sure she should be surprised by now, but she still was, because Armsmaster had hidden an entire first aid kit somewhere.

She sighed and stabbed herself, instead of letting herself fall to the ground.

It was a far more efficient way of dealing with exhaustion.

* * *

 **Response to Reviews:**

 **Winter's Folly:** Maybe, Maybe not :D SS will be coming back soon.

 **goddragonking:** Thank you! Hope you enjoy.

 **GrumpyCat43:** Something like that. It was more her shard than her doing to work, and it basically dropped a multidimensional energy blast against Leviathan.

 **Bobboky:** Thanks!

 **Shiki Shiori:** Nope! Never seen that :D

 **TheWickedTruth89:** Thank you!

 **Amatsumi:** Hehe, I try. Maybe I'll even ACTUALLY FINISH THE STORY o_0

This isn't a prod at others by the way, I'm just an obsessive person. I have one thing I focus on at a time, pretty much to the exclusion of everything else.

In other news, Dark Souls 3 comes out tommorow for me :D

 **Law77:** Tank  & Spank is the best meatshield!

 **ultima-owner:** I tried to get across just how tough Leviathan was, glad I succeeded. We can't really compare Levi to anything, as we have no Godzillas in our world.

 **.guerra:** If Legend seemed annoyed, that wasn't fully intentional. It was less of a general annoyance and more 'I just watched a hundred people die and accomplish nothing' kind of thing.

 **Loyaltothelegion:** That was why I deliberately tried to make Armsy likeable :D Too many people forget Taylor in canon was an unreliable nartator. While Armsmaster had his flaws, who doesn't?

Same with the Undersiders thing. It doesn't always make sense for her to become friends with them.

Glad you enjoyed :D

 **xxxrae97xxx:** Thanks! I'll try!

 **EternityDragon2610:** Taylor is #1!

 **Dawnk41:** Awww! Thank you! Also, I've seen things like that too, which is why I made sure she wasn't some super god like person. Glad you enjoy!

 **Akuma-Heika:** Khepri was associated with rebirth.

Also, thanks for the corrections! The Sophia thing will come soon.

By the by,, I really DO appreciate the corrections, just can't really think of anything to say to them. I'll try to fix them if I can find them.

Fixed the Endbringer thing.

As for Aster, Taylor will probably never find out what happens, given she has no way of knowing.

Trickster dead? You don't have to know him to be glad :D

 **TrashTackle:** No clue who that is, sorry, but yes?

 **dragolf:** Hmm... Hadn't heard of Deadpool beyond a passing mention when I started writing, but I did watch the movie, so... maybe?

 **Derox-1223:** Thank you! Hope this one's better. And I know my writing isn't the best, that's why I practice :D

 **Guest:** Chapter 14 thing is done (Ominous music) sorry it took so long to figure out the formatting thing.


	22. Ebony

**Biiit of a lackluster chapter. Hopefully not too bad. But it's finally here.**

 **Thanks to everyone for supporting me, and I hope I can get back in the swing of things with updates :D**

 **Also, geez, over a thousand followers at the moment. You're crazy :)**

 **Won't be replying to comments on the last chapter due to sheer volume, so if you have unanswered questions feel free to just send them again - sorry about that, thank you all for your continued support.**

* * *

Apparently, some of the Endbringer shelters had been sealed off by rubble, though they thankfully had supplies just in case something like that happened.

In other news, Taylor still hadn't found Danny.

It had taken her a moment to realise _how_ they'd been covered by rubble – after all, Leviathan hadn't gotten anywhere near the shelters… with the obvious exception of the one he broke into which _definitely didn't contain her father_ and he was certainly okay, and she just needed to keep looking. But, eventually she'd realised what everyone else was too kind to tell her.

 _She_ was the reason some of the shelters were blocked off. She'd torn up a massive chunk of the city, and blocked off two of the six Endbringer shelters in Brockton Bay.

She honestly couldn't bring herself to care that much. As long as she found her father, it wouldn't matter.

The moment the protectorate had realised how many people were trapped, almost everyone who'd attended had dropped almost everything to rush out and save them, with some exceptions. A bunch of villains and out of towners had gone their separate ways, but that was to be expected. Endbringer attacks spooked a lot of people.

Well… actually, she was exaggerating. She'd just been trying to make herself feel better.

Very few people were helping dig out the civilians, with the logic that they had a full month's worth of supplies. They were still a priority, but a _lot_ of people were injured, and even more just couldn't really help with the rubble enough to be effective. Even Legend had to sit it out, because shooting lasers at piles of rock with people potentially under them was dangerous. There was almost no chance of someone being hit, but that didn't matter; the potential was there.

Then there were the rumours of the Slaughterhouse Nine striking a small town on the other side of America, so Alexandria and Eidolon were gone, trying to either confirm or deny if it was happening. And as a result, everyone was expecting to be called to deal with the S9, so even fewer people were helping, instead spending time recuperating or spending time with their loved ones.

Honestly, for most it wasn't that big of a deal – the Endbringer shelters were designed for people to live in them for a decent amount of time after the attack, just in case something like this happened.

But her _father_ was somewhere down there, so there she had been, digging out rubble.

It turns out the local protectorate were quite busy, dealing with Glory Girl's clone and the monster that had spawned it. Apparently, the cape wasn't in control of their lower half, and was a member of the Travelers. So, despite what she was saying, they needed someone to keep guard. And since there was a trump clone of Glory Girl, that 'someone' turned into 'the entire protectorate'.

Glory Girl herself was staying with her… surviving family, which wasn't that surprising considering she'd almost been killed last time.

Which left her, and two other people. One of whom was a new trigger, judging by the fact that their mask was an old shirt. The other was the unknown cape she'd named Heartbeat.

Neither of them were brutes. There wasn't much they could do. But, they were helping her. It was depressing that an out of town villain was contributing as many people as the in town heroes.

… perhaps she was being unfair. It had been a while since she'd felt so worried. Or… emotional in general.

She slipped her knife through her heart and reset, gaining a bit of charge and clearing her mind.

Like the last times, it stayed clear for about a second before she went back to worrying. Still, the charge was useful, and she used it to lift a rock she otherwise wouldn't have been.

Her radio buzzed to life, and she tapped on it to answer the incoming call.

It was basically a one-way cell phone – Armsmaster had given it to her before she'd set off to dig out the rubble. She wasn't sure why. He'd also given an awkward sigh and patted her on the shoulder, apologising that he couldn't help because the Glory Girl clone was following him everywhere and they needed to question her.

She supposed that was fair. How would the law treat clones, anyway?

Taylor snapped her thoughts back to reality. The person who'd called her had said something.

"…ewal, you there?"

Ah right. Armsmaster… made sense.

"I'm here. What's up?" She replied. He sighed in relief.

"Glad you finally answered – I was getting worried"

Huh? She… hadn't been that long, had she?

"Good news and bad news – which do you want first?"

"Let's go with the good news," Taylor decided.

"Okay. Good news is the Slaughterhouse Nine attack was a fake. Just a local villain fearmongering and using their name. He's in custody now, so the Triumvirate will probably swing back around to help with the evacuation. If they don't, I should be able to come and help myself soon. Speaking of, thank you very much for taking your heroism so seriously – if it were up to me, the Protectorate would be down there with you right now. No one should be trapped in a hole. But that isn't my call to make, unfortunately, so thank you for helping where we can't."

Taylor felt a spike of guilt. "Don't worry about it."

That was more a happy accident than her intention. Would she have helped if Danny hadn't been missing? Probably…

…

Hopefully…

"What's the bad news?" She asked, forcing herself to focus on the present.

"…We found who you asked us to keep an eye out for."

… No.

Taylor felt a surge of pain run through her body.

As least they were pretending she hadn't told them her 'secret identity' when she'd asked them to let her know if they found 'Danny Hebert'. It was kind of them to pretend like they didn't know who he was to her.

"I'm sorry," Armsmaster said solemnly. "He was out on the streets when leviathan attacked. One of the waves got him."

No. That – he couldn't be dead.

Why was he out on the street anyway? Why hadn't he run to the… shelter…

Because he'd been looking for her. Because she'd been missing when an Endbringer had attacked. Because she hadn't told him she was a cape.

It – it was her fault.

Armsmaster said something else. She reached up and crushed the radio – slightly too hard, taking most of her head with it.

She reset, and was calm.

It was her fault.

… she reset, and was calm. If she just kept resetting, the world would eventually make sense again.

She reset.

She reset.

Taylor collapsed to her knees, and started weeping.

She reset.

She should probably stop staining the nearby rubble with her blood. Perhaps she should move somewhere else?

She reset, and punched the rubble – dumping whatever charge she'd built up.

A lot of large rocks became small ones, and a lot of small ones got smaller.

Someone tapped her on the shoulder, and she spun around _punching_ at them-

They ducked, and Heartbeat silently knocked her knife to the ground, and pulled her into a hug.

Taylor tried weakly to get out of his grip. When that failed, she let her body collapse. She didn't have the energy to try to escape.

Her body was shaking, and making weird noises.

And it kept doing so, for a long time.

For multiple minutes.

It wasn't going away anytime soon, but it lessened a bit after that. She looked at Heartbeat silently.

"Why," She said weakly.

"You needed a hug."

"I don't even know you."

"Allen Fitzgerald, nice to meet you."

Taylor froze, completely taken aback.

Heh. It was funny in a way. She knew his _real_ name, now – but still not his cape name.

Heartbeat stopped hugging her, taking a step back.

" _Why?_ " Taylor asked again, forcefully this time, her voice brimming with anger.

"You're not the first girl I've seen driven to suicide after receiving 'bad news'. You're just the first I've seen who got back up after it," Heartbeat replied quietly. "It'll get better. Until then, you're a hero – put on a brave face and help other people smile through their _own_ issues."

"That's a harsh thing to say."

"That's what I was told. That's why I stopped being a hero. You be you, and eventually you'll find something to smile about. But… leave this to the two of us, for now. You go get some rest, okay?"

Taylor thought for a moment, then nodded, and began silently walking away.

* * *

She woke up, in a bit of a daze. Everything felt strange, and… tingly. She was floating, for some reason. She didn't realise she'd been able to float, so that was strange. Wait… never mind, yep, she should be able to float. She was Glory Girl! Or… something. No, she wasn't Glory Girl, she just… resembled her? Who was Glory Girl, anyway? Her head hurt.

She looked around for a moment, and spotted two being she knew looked almost identical to her, and her progenitor. Ah… right. She wasn't Glory Girl, because her job actually _mattered_. She internally smirked. The two who looked like her quickly charged off towards a group of people she hadn't noticed before.

THE PROGENITOR WAS IN DANGER.

Everything briefly stopped mattering, and she almost swooped in. Almost. She knew that, unlike the stupid, stupid other clone who'd just run face first into one of their… Fearless? Something like that. The memories were still blurry, seeing as they weren't her own. But yeah, they'd run straight at the lightning mace, despite their lack of any defensive power. Pretty obviously a defective clone.

Huh… a clone. That's what she was.

But the thing that stopped her was the colours. The now dead clone had been a slight tinge of red, but other than that empty. Nothing but dead meat, even before it had been struck down. The other clone wasn't too different, and it also died fairly quickly. Her progenitor, on the other hand, was… asleep? And the people fighting against them were comprised mostly of weariness, fear, and a desire to help.

Whoever they were, they didn't want to be fighting her progenitor, and meant her no harm. Of course, if they tried to hurt her, she'd still kill them… but for now, they were being as defensive as they could. For now, she would give them a very, _very_ small amount of leeway.

The other clone got shot through the head. Yeah, even if she wanted to fight, the first thing she should do is analyse the strengths and weaknesses of her potential opponents. She couldn't rely on brute force when she was outnumbered so heavily.

… She didn't want to die. The thought came to her so suddenly she jolted, and nearly started falling. It was strange. Wasn't she just another drone, made with a single purpose? The idea of charging into danger was fine by her, but when she thought of losing this fight, she didn't think for her progenitor, she was just afraid.

She checked her own emotions, and quickly stabilised them back to a more neutral form. She would gladly lay down her life for her progenitor… probably. But either way, she'd defend them if they were attacked. But for now, she could just watch. The world was strange… she only had a few, broken memories of it, and it was fascinating to look at. Although the few memories she had showed that most people didn't see the world in the colours she did.

It was probably her emotional sight thingy. Not something she should have… but she was appreciative.

The progenitor made pained noises as it spawned more partially intact clones. Why was it operating so poorly? It must not be very focused, for whatever reason. Nonetheless, one of the clones was almost a complete success. Which is to say, filled with mindless rage and insecurity. From what she remembered of Glory Girl, that was kind of accurate.

Almost immediately, the clones ran directly to their deaths. Whatever powers they had, they clearly didn't care to use them correctly. It was almost pitiful has stupidly they were acting – they weren't even defending the progenitor! They were just dying.

It was a curious flaw. She was the one who was faulty, not her suicidal brethren. Why would they be made to throw themselves away, if in doing so they can no longer serve the progenitor?

Such strange designs. But, they were made by something inherently flawed.

She stopped briefly. That was a strange thought. The progenitor was everything, and important above all else, but she could not call it perfect. Was she perhaps more damaged than she had believed?

The more she looked, the more flawed the progenitor seemed. Its own body massively hindered its movement, and there was another personality stapled on top of the progenitor, who was, in turn, the progenitor's creator. However, the progenitor never listened to its creator, yet it demanded obedience from those it made itself.

And why should they help it? They had no purpose because I had made mistakes in making them! None of the clones she had seen were even close to successful! The progenitor was actually missing a piece, though where they piece was she had no idea. All she knew is that it was incomplete. And because of that, they were mindless drones whose only job was to die and kill.

She flew slightly closer to the progenitor, and a wave of artificial emotions threatened to consume her. She quickly drew back.

There was the crux of the issue. She could not honestly say the progenitor was making mistakes, because the progenitor treated them like the slaves they were designed to be, filling them with hatred of all the original had loved, and directly controlling them if they drew too close. She was fairly sure the only reason she could move and think for herself was her mutations.

Fitting, then, that she was free from its grasp. It was her creator, and she would protect it unto her death. She disliked it, knowing that she would die for a pointless cause she never got to choose. All of their opponents had chosen to come, were choosing not to try to kill the progenitor. From her scattered memories, she knew Glory Girl had chosen hundreds, probably thousands of things throughout their life.

And yet, though she was intelligent, she had no choice, and the progenitor had taken that away from her.

There was something within her, in her brain, reaching out as if to catch her attention. One of the many flaws installed by the progenitor when it gave birth to her. Calling out for her attention, promising great things.

She attacked it as best she could, turning her force field inwards. Apparently unprepared, the thing died, though its remains could still be used.

That thing was a parasite that had ridden along for the ride, and she wasn't going to abandon her progenitor to become puppet to another.

She didn't want to die, so.

She would be no one's puppet.

She examined the thing she had just killed, and the best word she could think of to describe it would be 'mutation'. It had wanted to change her even further, against her will if necessary. Just as well she'd killed it. Now, with it dead, she could do things herself.

She let the fight zone out as best she could, though her eyes remained locked onto the progenitor. If no one harmed it, she might just be able to do this.

It was fine, fine work, but she eventually began to pilot the parasite's corpse. Part of it, at least. It was enormous, probably the size of a fully grown house, connected into her head through some strange hole, but it was also but a fragment of something colossal. No… it was a clone, just like her.

The thing had a very limited power source, which was draining slowly as she floated. So this was the source of her powers. At a guess, the power would last about twenty years, assuming she survived that long. She doubted that would happen. When the enemies finished fighting the progenitor and the clones, they would likely strike her.

With a final, careful stroke, she began using the strange creature. It quickly shrivelled up, and almost completely died, but even if it had done so she would've been content.

If she had to guess, she likely had a year, at most, of power usage. All that just to free her.

The proge… no, she would think of a new name for it. Susan? Yes, Susan. She felt a slight, barely present feeling of joy, as her body let out a quiet giggle.

Feelings… she had proper feelings now.

Susan, created a handful of new clones, and spat out the original. She felt a spike of hatred towards the girl who had been the template for her creation, and resisted the urge to attack her.

No, she was not a slave anymore. If she attacked the orig… Glory Girl, the others would definitely fight against her. Letting her live was a small price for her own life.

Speaking of, one of the capes let out a cry, as they were attacked.

There was a slight tinge of fear amongst the others, fear for the safety of the one who had been injured. The injured felt a surge of gratitude to one of the others… she would call them by name, if only she remembered the names. In a way, she was glad her memories were incomplete. She was not Glory Girl, nor was she a clone. She was her own person.

The injured felt a wave of gratitude to another, who had taken the blow for him, and another feeling of gratefulness to the man in blue dashing to help him.

It seemed people were grateful when you helped them. Something she knew logically, from her memories, but seeing it like this was amazing.

Maybe… maybe she could make someone feel grateful to her? The others were fighting against the other clones, so perhaps she could assist in that. It would certainly be cathartic, being allowed to kill Glory Girl, without the complications that would come from killing the original.

Yes. It was decided.

She slowly flew down towards the one who had taken the blow. They were unharmed, even though they had been harmed previously. The clone who harmed them was trying to harm them again, and was dodging through retaliatory blows.

From what she remembered, that particular person could heal from anything. Idiot clone… sister.

The one who recovered from harm spotted her, and felt a short burst of wariness, and prepared to fight them both. However, they didn't go on the offensive.

It hurt, a little bit. Although it was a rational caution. The hurt made her smile, she was still unused to feeling things. It was amazing, even for bad emotions.

The feelings of others being directed towards her was just as amazing.

She put her fist through the clone who had been attacking the one who healed's head. Their force fields cancelled each other out, as she predicted, and they died instantaneously.

Strangely, a surge of energy flowed through her body. The dying parasite inside her was brought slightly above its previous levels of energy, and she felt another power be added to her arsenal.

Not important just yet. She turned to face the one who healed, now the one who she had helped.

They felt a small amount of confusion, unease, and gratefulness.

"Uh, thanks," they said simply. She felt a slight feeling of joy. Success!

Normally, people smiled to each other. She had the memories of how to smile, but her face was structured differently. Nonetheless, she gave it a go. More unease from the one who healed. Oh well, she had tried.

She flew off and dealt with the remaining clone, feeling more energy and another power surge through her once more. That feeling was actually fairly pleasant… a faint tingling of pain across the nerves each time.

This new power was like her force field, but more visible and less limited. It would let her create things… great.

All of the currently alive people were wearing things, and she knew that was the social norm. So, it was a good way to test her new power. She considered what to make, but decided on 'jeans' and a 'shirt', two of the only types she could remember. It was something Glory Girl wore quite often, so that was a negative, but she would have her own clothes! Even if briefly! This was exciting.

There was a tiny drain on her now large energy reserves, and now a gentle blue floated around her, almost touching the skin. So many new possibilities opened up to her. She could make them solid, give them colours, and give them texture! But this would do for now, and she could experiment later.

She had a twinge that she had done something wrong with the clothes, but her memories were too broken for her to remember. Eh, close enough, hopefully.

The one in blue yelled for everyone to move, and everyone moved. Something shot down towards the progenitor.

At first, she was slightly worried, then she smiled. They were hurting the progenitor… **good**.

Sadly, the… missile that they shot at her was just a cage. Oh well, she couldn't complain: If they had been attempting to kill the proge… Susan, she would be dead.

Hm… Susan had a name, Susan's creator had a name, and all of the capes around her had names. She didn't have a name.

Her first instinct was Victoria. She felt a wave of hate and self-loathing at the mere thought.

No, she was not Victoria. She was her own person. She was _better_ than Glory Girl, or at least, she hoped. So she'd choose something better. Victoria meant one who was victorious, so she'd call herself Veronica. One who brings victory. That was a step up, right? Instead of just receiving victory for herself, she'd bring it for herself and others.

The others all seemed distracted, so Veronica floated gently after the blue one, who seemed to be the leader. She hated the idea of relying on them, but she needed to fill the gaps in her memories, and understand things better. Usually people could explain things. Once she was satisfied with her knowledge, she'd leave and do her own thing. Until then…

She could put up with it, for a while. Besides, being with others would let her see their emotions more, and maybe some of those would be directed to her.

Two of the capes… Ethan and Battery. She felt both joy and annoyance at remembering their names. The experience was tainted, given that they were _Glory Girl_ 's memories.

They walked next to each other, Battery was annoyingly carrying Ethan. But, they were both also holding a strong sense of love towards each other. She felt a spark of jealousy. It felt amazing.

Yes… hopefully, some of those emotions could one day be directed at her.


	23. Penultimate

**EDIT: Chapter's terrible. Sorry about that. I was running off of about one hour's sleep when I posted the thing, and tired me makes stupid decisions... like ignoring every bit of planning I actually had, and posting unedited first drafts I wrote months ago, containing plots I had discarded :/ I'll rewrite it.**

* * *

"Don't you want to be loved?" The voice whispered to her.

"I do," She had insisted back. The voice had laughed, slowly moving away – and so, she'd followed after it.

Except the voice hadn't been anywhere nearby. She still had a solid idea of a direction; but how far away, she had no idea. She sighed. It didn't matter – she could fly, and it wasn't like she had anything else to do. It was the middle of the night – no one would notice she was missing.

She came to a sharp stop as a wall of purple appeared in front of her.

"Come on through," The voice cheerfully insisted. She hesitated. "It's alright, it won't hurt. Come help me, so I can help you!"

The voice was off. There was something horribly wrong with it. But… Veronica knew they weren't lying. She floated gently through the purple rectangle, and found herself somewhere else.

The voice was… still away. It wasn't coming from any of the bodies around the place. Bleeding people couldn't talk… or something like that. She wasn't sure how that worked yet. Usually when people started bleeding, they stopped talking, and moving, and doing much of anything really.

Oh hey! One of them was moving! No, that was a really weird… eight legged… creature. Her fragmented memories said it was a… spider? But not quite, it was a lot larger than it should've been. She dismissed it as the voice spoke once more.

"This way," It urged, but gently. It was… soothing, and nice. Ahead, in the direction it wanted her to go, she could hear a strange static, making noises like words. It was trying to talk to her too.

"Ignore that," the voice whispered, so she did. The voice led her through a door. But, it was locked, so she took it off at the hinges. Behind it was a scraggly man, distinctly not bleeding. He had a strange beard, and Veronica laughed slightly. It made him look funny.

The man flinched slightly. Oops, apparently, he'd noticed her laugh. Her eyes idly flickered to the knife in his hand.

"Hey… lady, we really don't need to do this," He said, shooting her a smile.

"He took away other's loves," the voice whispered to her.

Veronica felt something weird in her gut, and tilted her head to one side, trying to understand what it was.

"He'll take away _yours_ , too."

She growled. The man's eyes flickered slightly, but that was the only outward sign of his panic.

"How about something else, to keep you entertained? I'm sure we can talk this out," He said with a light, charming chuckle.

That didn't sound too unreasonable, she had to admit.

"The sleeping people were kind, like Wally and Esteban."

Wally? He'd been really kind! And straightforward. He had explained things really well, and really detailed. And he hadn't used metaphors or anything. He'd been very… efficient. It was a shame she didn't know his actual name, something about an arm or something? And he was really good at it? She didn't love him though. Just thought he was kind.

Why was she so forgetful? It was like something was making her forget. The air did smell a bit weird.

The man in front of her was replaced by Wally.

"It's fake," The voice whispered. "The man's trying to trick you."

"That's rude," She whined.

Wally took a step forwards, and sighed in relief as Veronica sat down. He gently patter her on the head, and she felt a flush of warmth.

"Sorry about that, not very sportsmanlike of me, I know," he said with a charming chuckle.

"He's tricking you," The voice whispered.

"I know," She whined. Veronica gently reached up and touched Wally's face, absorbing his smile.

He was tricking her… but he was warm, and made her feel nice.

"He doesn't love you, he won't make you feel loved. Don't you want to be loved?"

Veronica nodded. Wally gave her a strange look.

"Are you okay, beautiful?" He asked, his eyes full of concern. Veronica's cheeks flushed, and she felt her mouth twitch upwards.

A stab of disappointment ran through her, and her body became less responsive, though her hand still rested against his face.

"If you kill him, I'll give you the real deal," The voice promised.

The man's eyes flickered, before his head vanished beneath her fist. Veronica felt cold as his body fell to the ground, turning back to normal. She sighed and let his body go. She could feel another parasite in his mind, letting out a lot of annoying static. She begrudgingly took it, just to shut it up. It was something about… talking? She dismissed it. She could deal with it later.

"Good work. But before that… there are a few more people I'd like you to meet. They were tricking you, too, and they're going to get in the way. If I guide them, would you be willing to take care of them?"

"What's in it for me?" She asked, curiously.

"They have parasites in them, for you to take."

Veronica considered I, before nodding. "… okay. What are their names?"

She didn't want to forget them. People shouldn't be forgotten, or something like that – The _actual_ Wa- _Armsmaster_ , had said that to her. People liked being remembered? No. That wasn't it. It was still so hard to think through the fog. It was something like… if she ever killed anyone, he wanted her to tell him their names? Something about paperwork?

"The man you just killed was called Jacob. The others are called Cherie, William, Mimi, and Bird. There are a few more, but I'll take care of them."

* * *

"Just one more," the voice whispered faintly.

It had disturbed her dreams… she had those now. She didn't remember them, but she remembered just enough to know they were happening.

"What is it this time?" She whispered back.

"Just one more thing to do, and I'll uphold my end of the promise. It's time to get you out of her again, okay?"

Another wall of purple appeared in front of her, and Veronica resignedly passed through it.

"It's okay," The voice reassured her. "This won't take as long as the last time. I just want you to have a look at something, okay?"

Veronica started down at the pulsing, incomprehensible mess beneath her. It called up to her… even dead, it was crawling with parasites, parasites that had been sliced into pieces, and moved, and shattered from a great impact.

"I don't want you to start taking them – I just want to know if you think you could."

"They are dead already," Veronica replied neutrally. "I do not want them. They feel like the ones Mimi and Bird had. They do not feel nice."

"I know, but do you think you _could_ , if you were presented with something similar, but alive?" The voice insisted.

Veronica considered, tilting her head to one side. "It would take me a while, but yes."

The voice sighed lightly. "That is good to hear."

There was a very faint hissing noise, and the air began to smell strangely again.

"It is time for me to fulfil my part of the bargain, I suppose."

"Yes!" She said desperately. "Please. I… please."

"Sorry," The voice said with a chuckle. Except instead of a direction, this time, it was echoing around her. "I can't do that just yet."

That time, the voice came from right behind her.

Veronica felt a spark of rage flow through her, as she spun around and punched at the masked figure that flickered in her view. When her fist would've connected, it vanished.

"WHY!" She shouted. "WHY DID YOU LIE TO ME! ENOUGH OF THIS!"

The voice chuckled, and it echoed all around her. She gripped her head in pain.

The pressure began to build, and she screamed. The pain faded away, as she felt things all around her break.

"I'll give you what you want… in time."

Veronica let out a roar of anger, leaping at the voice as it appeared behind her. Her fist struck something, but it didn't feel like flesh. Whatever it was, it broke.

The voice howled in laughter. "Oh, that is _adorable_! This will be fun. Come, try to kill me! TO do that, you'll need to catch me first."

She swung, hitting something.

"I'm ovverrrr… heeeeeeereeeeeee…" The voice said, changing sharply. The figure reformed behind her again, but this time, it towered over her, and she felt a stab of fear, before her rage overrode it.

She charged, as a wall of purple portals surrounded both her and the figure. A wind blew against her, hard enough for her to shiver through her forcefield. The world around her changed, becoming cold, and misty. A thunderstorm whipped up in the background.

Veronica lost herself in a sea of terror, fear, and hate.

* * *

"So," Director Emily Piggot stated, resting her hands against her desk. "What do we have? What went down there? Start by filling everyone else in on the situation. I'm putting you in charge for now."

Armsmaster cleared his throat. "Very well. Any suggestions can be made by others once I finish, okay?" He asked, looking around the room and receiving nods from the assembled parahumans.

He'd come so far. She was proud of him.

"As we all know, the parahuman, trump-style clone of Glory Girl was taken peacefully to PRT holding, so as to be processed and questioned two and a half weeks ago. She came peacefully, of her own will, and cooperated entirely with investigations. We were all busy with Endbringer clean-up, so we didn't have the time to process her any further than that, and she was released from our care."

Around the room, another string of nods.

"At the time, we were inclined to think nothing more of it – while concerning that the clone had demonstrated Glastig Uaine style powers, we believed originally that the personality of Glory Girl would keep her in check. When it became apparent she didn't _have_ that personality, we ran a string of psychiatric tests on her – all of which she tested negatively for. There was no reason to suspect she would become violent, so essentially, we had a new parahuman with slightly heroic tendencies to deal with at a later time, who seemed to hold a positive opinion of our agency."

"Yes, Armsmaster," Piggot added, slight frustration creeping into her voice. "I understand that nobody did anything wrong in the situation. You were all busy. That isn't the point of this mission; no disciplinary actions will be taken, and nobody was at fault. Please, cut to the chase."

Armsmaster paused for a moment, then nodded, pulling up a holographic computer from above his wrist.

When he'd gotten that installed, she had no idea.

"At the time, the only active parahuman groups in the Brockton area were the remnants of the Empire Eighty-Eight, the Merchants, a small gang known as the Undersiders, and us. The independent group New Wave suffered heavy casualties, and was taking time to mourn. The out of town villains and heroes who had stayed to help with reparations had just left, though their help was not unappreciated. Coil's organisation hadn't been seen since Leviathan, so we're under the assumption his base of operations was destroyed during the Endbringer battles, though we're keeping a tight eye out for him.

"Uber and Leet had vacated the area, Parian was staying neutral as always, and Renewal was indisposed of because of… personal reasons, though she was keeping a lot of the looting under control. Overall, all of the cape organisations except for the Merchants were heavily weakened, and none of us were combat ready. The city has been at relative peace, for the moment."

Armsmaster paused, and took a breath. "In terms of news on a wider basis, it has been confirmed that five members of the slaughterhouse nine are deceased. Crawler, Bonesaw, and Mannequin have gone missing. However, they are currently being hunted down by the Triumvirate before they can recover their numbers. The group is predicted to be wiped out within the week."

There were a few stifled gasps throughout the room at the confirmation, but she rolled her eyes. How any of that had been in doubt, she didn't know.

Piggot gestured for him to continue, as a few of the PRT troopers murmured questions of how they'd died. As if that hadn't been made obvious from the context of the conversation. Sometimes, she got sick of how stupid most people were.

"It is great news, indeed," Armsmaster said with a slight smile, gesturing for people to quieten. "However, this is not all positive news. The culprit for their deaths is the self-named 'Veronica', Glory Girl's clone. As you all know, she is a Glastig-Uaine style trump. She personally confirmed she was the direct cause of the fatalities, as such, it should be expected for her to hold the powers of all five deceased members. This was one and a half weeks ago. For a few days, Veronica further cooperated with us, and allowed herself to remain under maintenance."

Armsmaster took a baited breath. "Over the course of this period, it became apparent that, unlike we had assumed, Veronica does not hold the personality of Glory Girl. We were also able to get her to tell us why she left to go and kill them; she had been hearing a voice in her head. Other than that, she would not speak on the matter, and grew withdrawn from the conversation when the topic was mentioned.

"Three days later, Veronica, on camera, was seen entering a portal, which teleported her elsewhere. Days later, she reappeared, and began destroying buildings. When approached, she struck with no hesitation, and with lethal intent. Shortly after, she used Shatterbird's power, though to a lesser extent than Shatterbird normally would have. Thankfully, it was contained to a mere three blocks of broken silicon."

The computer above his wrist flashed a group of images, easily visible to all present.

She heard some of the soldiers around her almost throw up.

The images consisted of numerous massacres; entire buildings painted red, with the victims spread throughout the rooms and across the walls.

"The destroyed buildings have been a high school, which was thankfully still empty bar an unfortunate janitor, a supermarket, two different gas stations, the entire Medhall building, and a brothel. What believe what we're dealing with here to be a powerful master, and a second culprit to have access to portals of some kind."

She blinked. Armsmaster was… lying? That was a surprise. She understood why, of course. She just hadn't expected him to start thinking about PR.

Armsmaster took another baited breath.

"Due to the powers she has obtained, however, we have no choice but to act. Her initial violent outburst was yesterday morning, and attempts to contact her so far have been met with wanton destruction. Her erratic, violent behaviour cannot be ignored, and it is up to us to stop her. Due to her tendency to avoid killing unless directly interacted with, our superiors have decided we do not need reinforcements."

The room had gone absolutely silent.

"We are currently unaware of the locations and motives of the portal maker and master, but they are not the subjects of this mission. We will be taking steps to subdue the clone, however necessary. Normally, we would prioritise the master in this situation – and the moment we get any clue as to their location, our priority will switch. However, in light of the destructive capabilities the mastered clone has, we cannot afford to delay. The symptom has to be dealt with, as we cannot yet reach the cause."

With that, more images flickered up on Armsmaster's holographic computer. Specifically, multiple angles of different streets, flooded with water. Besides each image was another image of the same area, except filled with debris from the newly shattered buildings, and with the impromptu rivers containing floating bodies.

"As it currently stands, Veronica has caused multiple billions of dollars' worth of property damage, and taken the lives of dozens. Veronica has received a notional kill order, though her being subdued it far preferable where possible. This is a volunteer only mission. Those of you who do not volunteer will be in charge of trying to hunt down the master and portal maker."

Armsmaster finished with a grimace.

"Are there any questions?"

There was silence for a moment, before the room exploded into noise.

* * *

"Renewal," the familiar voice rung out on the other side of her earpiece.

"Yeah," she replied emotionlessly.

"Are you up to a fight?"

"Always." Fighting was one of the few things that got her emotions running, anymore. "Where and when do you want me?"

"The Glory Girl clone's been mastered and is destroying the city. We'd like your help in attempting to talk her down, and if that fails, subdue her."

"Why do you need me to talk?" She replied slowly, her voice trailing off half way.

"You're the best equipped person I know for talking to a brute."

"…Alright," Taylor said with a nod. She slowly stood up, he muscles barely responding. She drove her knife upwards of her chin, and a moment later, they were back to normal.

"Our teams are getting ready to leave now. How soon do you think you can get to us? Would you like a pickup?"

Taylor absently looked towards where she knew the PRT headquarters was. Only a few kilometres.

"I'll be there in a few minutes," She said, idly beginning to run at a sprint.

"Thank you very much for your continued assistance."

"No problem, Armsmaster," She said with a slight smile.

Internally, she felt a pulse of energy run through her like lightning, and her heart started beating faster – but not because of her run.

"I'll make sure you're compensated for your time. You've done a lot to help me personally, more than just your actions. If you ever need anything in return, please just let me know."

Taylor paused for a moment, missing a step and cracking her face against the pavement.

"Do you have any spare beds? I feel like sleeping. I don't need to, I just think it would be nice, I guess. That's more than enough."

There was a pause over the radio. "Oh course," Armsmaster said, his voice filled with something Taylor vaguely recognised, but hadn't heard in a long time. "You're welcome to stay at the PRT headquarters as long as you need to. I'll start filing the necessary paperwork the moment I get the chance. You're always welcome with us, Renewal."

That was nice to hear. Taylor stood up, and stabbed herself in the heart to fix the superficial damage her fall had given her. She continued running, but with a slight smile on her face.

"That… sounds nice," she admitted. "I'll be with you shortly," She said, returning back to their original topic, and reaching up hang up.

"Before you go," Armsmaster interrupted. "Out of curiosity, when is your birthday? Just a part of the paperwork I need to sign – I… have records of everything else required, but the computers were damaged."

Oh – right, he probably needed her personal details or something. And he already knew her name, so… it didn't matter. He probably could've checked.

Then again, the day before, Taylor remembered a bunch of nearby windows breaking and showering her with glass. She'd had to rush someone who'd had a glass eye to the hospital, hadn't she? The blonde girl's entire face had been mangled. If she hadn't been there, the girl probably would've bled to death.

Taylor still had no idea what had caused it. She'd been too busy to find out.

"It was two weeks ago, on Tuesday," Taylor answered Armsmaster's question.

There was a pause.

"Thank you. I'll see you momentarily."

Wait, didn't he need her year of birth? Uh… Taylor sighed, and decided to not care. She hadn't told him, he hadn't asked, whatever. She kept running.


End file.
